Article page new theme
International

Brazil White Male Cabinet Criticized

Brazil's suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, has criticized the new interim government created by her former vice president, Michel Temer, for being entirely made up of white male politicians. It is the first cabinet with no women in Brazil since 1979.

Rousseff said it did not represent the country—one of the world's most ethnically diverse nations. Her government had seven women among its 31 ministers, BBC reported. Rousseff is facing trial after the Senate on Thursday voted to impeach and suspend her.

She is accused of illegally manipulating finances to hide a growing public deficit ahead of her reelection in 2014, which she denies. The new government's chief-of-staff said they had been unable to find any women for the cabinet. Eliseu Padilha said the cabinet had been formed on a tight schedule.

"We will bring women into the government, in posts that used to be ministries, and that now will have the same functions but under a different name."  

The new government will be in stark contrast to the administration of Rousseff who had called herself in Portuguese "presidenta" instead of the gender neutral "presidente", and who had spoken of citizens as being "Brazilian women and men."