FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2019 file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, left, shakes hands with Education Minister Ricardo Velez Rodriguez, during a swearing-in ceremony for his cabinet at the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil. Bolsonaro announced on Twitter Monday, April 8, 2019, that Velez Rodriguez will be replaced. The announcement comes a few days after Velez Rodriguez said that school textbooks would be adjusted to describe the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship as a "democratic regime of force." (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
Republished April 08, 2019 - 1:33 PM
Original Publication Date April 08, 2019 - 12:16 PM
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's education minister has left his post after weeks of uncertainty and rumours around his possible firing.
President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted Monday that Ricardo Velez Rodriguez would be replaced by Abraham Weintraub.
The announcement came a few days after Velez Rodriguez said that school textbooks would be adjusted to describe the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship as a "democratic regime of force."
His brief time in the government was marked by setbacks and controversy, with multiple firings and resignations inside the ministry. The tensions were generated by a fight for influence between the military and political conservatives.
The new education minister was deputy chief of staff to Bolsonaro. An economist, Weintraub was previously a professor at the federal university of Sao Paulo.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019