Rio de Janeiro
\nBrazil\u2019s far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro set about staffing his new administration on Wednesday, naming an astronaut as science minister while a top anti-corruption judge mulled a job offer.<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro won the presidential race on Sunday, easily overcoming his leftist opponent with a vow to kneecap violent drug gangs and end years of political graft. He has also said he wants to roughly halve the size of the presidential cabinet.<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro, who nearly died from a stab wound while campaigning last month, donned a bulletproof vest on Wednesday and headed to the beach in Rio de Janeiro to attend an acrobatic air show in his honor.<\/p>\n
The former army captain said on Twitter that Marcos Pontes, a Brazilian astronaut who was the country\u2019s first person in space, would be his science and technology minister.<\/p>\n
A full cabinet will be announced next month, Bolsonaro\u2019s future chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, said in a private meeting, according to two people who heard the remarks.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Bolsonaro is due to meet with crusading anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro, who led the \u201cCar Wash\u201d probe snaring big names in Brazil\u2019s political class and opening the door for Bolsonaro\u2019s tough-on-corruption campaign.<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro has previously said he wants Moro to serve as his justice minister and eventually join the Supreme Court. The court\u2019s next vacancy is expected in 2020.<\/p>\n
A columnist for Estado de S. Paulo reported on Wednesday that Moro would accept an offer from Bolsonaro to run the Justice Ministry with expanded powers over corruption and public safety, without citing a source.<\/p>\n
However, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Moro had not yet made up his mind.<\/p>\n
Still, the Bolsonaro camp expected on Wednesday that Moro would join the future cabinet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe Moro already accepted Bolsonaro\u2019s offer and all that\u2019s missing is for them to meet,\u201d said a source close to Bolsonaro who asked not to be identified.<\/p>\n
A third person said Moro\u2019s conditions included the passage of new anti-corruption legislation and expansion of the Justice Ministry\u2019s responsibilities to include the federal police and the auditing office that roots out graft in the federal budget.<\/p>\n
Moro, who oversaw graft investigations culminating with a 12-year bribery and money laundering sentence for leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has been cautious in public statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the event I\u2019m indeed offered a post, it will be subject to a balanced discussion and reflection,\u201d Moro said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
As part of his drive to slim down government, Bolsonaro has proposed combining three existing ministries into the portfolio of his chief economic adviser and folding together the ministries of agriculture and environment.<\/p>\n
The first idea has faced resistance from industrial leaders and the latter has been criticized by the outgoing heads of the ministries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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