This Friday, 6th, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) appointed Esther Dweck as interim Minister of Human Rights after the dismissal of Silvio Almeida, accused of committing sexual harassment in the government. A historic member of the PT, Dweck also heads the Ministry of Management and Innovation and will combine both functions until the appointment of a new head to the portfolio left by Almeida.
The minister was one of the members of the government that the PT member listened to before dismissing Almeida. With a long career in the economic area, she does not have an academic history in the area of Human Rights.
The Ministry’s command arrived after executive secretary Rita Cristina de Oliveira, number 2 in the department who would occupy the position on an interim basis, resigned this Friday, 7th, in a gesture of solidarity with the former minister.
The interim Minister of Human Rights is an economist and professor. With a PhD in Economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), she even taught classes at the institution. Dweck also taught at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) between 2007 and 2009.
Dweck participated in the authorship of two books, they are: “Economy for the few: social impacts of austerity and alternatives for Brazil” and “Post-pandemic economy: dismantling the myths of austerity to build a new paradigm”.
A member of the PT’s technical staff, Dweck worked at the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management in the government of former president Dilma Rousseff, where she was head of economic advisory (2011-2014) and federal budget secretary (2015-2016).
After the end of the PT governments, she was a parliamentary advisor to the Senate. In 2021, she received the 2021 Economist Woman award from the Federal Economic Council (Cofecon).
Dweck was announced as a minister in the Lula government in December 2022, after participating in the Lula government’s transition team, set up after that year’s elections. In leading Management and Innovation, her main measure was the announcement and holding of the Unified National Competition (CNU).
Silvio Almeida was fired after allegations of sexual harassment in the government
Lula decided to fire Silvio Almeida after understanding that the minister’s stay in the government was unsustainable. The dismissal occurred one day after the NGO Me Too stated, in a statement, that he was reported for sexual harassment by people linked to the federal government. The organization omitted the names of the complainants under the argument that it was necessary to protect them, but assured that it had the consent of the victims to expose the matter.
One of the women who allegedly suffered abuse committed by Almeida was the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco. In a note published after the ex-minister’s dismissal, Anielle criticized attempts to “pressure victims to speak in moments of pain and vulnerability”. She also said that she will cooperate with the investigations when called.
Silvio Almeida says he is innocent and stated that he will support the carrying out of “careful investigations” into the allegations against him. He demands proof of the alleged harassment in order to defend himself against the accusations.
“Due to my struggle and the commitments that permeate my career, I declare that I will encourage the carrying out of careful investigations without distinction. The efforts undertaken to have a more fair and egalitarian country are the result of collective struggles and cannot succumb to individual desires. I am most interested in proving my innocence. Let the facts be laid out so that I can defend myself within the legal process,” he stated.
Almeida is the fourth minister in the Lula government to fall since the beginning of his term. He and the former minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI) Gonçalves Dias are the only ones fired due to complaints reported in the press.
