The new Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, PT-MG, took office this Friday (27) at an event at Palácio do Planalto.
She was appointed to the position on September 9, after , investigated by . One of the victims would be the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, who participated in the inauguration ceremony this morning.
State deputy for Minas Gerais, Macaé is ready to take over the vacancy in the ministerial team of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). How to CNN showed, the head of the Executive established a commitment for the PT member to hold the position that she would not contest the 2026 elections.
Despite the presence of Lula, the first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, and government ministers, Macaé was the only authority to speak at the ceremony. She called commanding the ministry a “gigantic challenge” and defended taking special care of female heads of families.
For her, the department’s vocation is to care for the country’s diversity and contribute to a dignified life for Brazilians. “Unfortunately, in our Brazilian society, many people have the idea that human rights are something for those who defend criminals. We have a fundamental challenge to build the action of this Ministry”, he said.
In his speech, Macaé defended the “joy of children” as a form of resistance and combat against “suffering, sadness and oppression”.
“On the global stage, we face a new onslaught of capital that bets on social, racial and environmental segregation to legitimize the oppression and extermination of millions of ordinary people, like me, who, faced with the horror of hunger, plague and war They don’t know who to turn to. That is why our task is to dialogue and dispute the very meaning of human rights”, he declared.
At the event in Planalto, the writer Conceição Evaristo, cousin of Macaé and one of the greatest voices in Brazilian literature, “Vozes-Mulheres” and “No midway: sliding waters”.
Since her appointment, the PT member has been promoting changes in the portfolio’s secretaries. Among those dismissed are Luzia Cantal, now former ombudsman at the ministry, and who must be replaced by a person trusted by the new incumbent, and the former secretary of Children and Adolescents Cláudio Augusto Vieira da Silva, who, like the former -chief, was accused of moral harassment by colleagues at the ministry.
The new minister was the first black woman to hold the positions of Secretary of Education in Belo Horizonte (2005 to 2012) and Minas Gerais (2015 to 2018). She also served as secretary of Continuing Education, Literacy, Diversity and Inclusion at the Ministry of Education (MEC) during the government of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT), between 2013 and 2014.
Folder changes
Macaé Evaristo said. in an interview with CNN in the last week. that new changes must be made to the folder, but that the changes will not be implemented taking into account only possible accusations.
“We’re not looking to eliminate people. We want. I need us to distinguish one thing from another. There will be changes in the Ministry, but the changes will not necessarily happen because people have been reported,” he said in an interview.
The former state deputy stated that the accused must have the right to defense. She analyzes other cases and new dismissals are not ruled out. There are at least 14 reports of moral harassment in the ministry. The majority of accusations are filed by women.
