Brazil: new culture minister defends public funding

This Tuesday (May 24) at the ceremony to swear in new Culture Minister Marcelo Calero, he said: "Public funding is an essential tool for the culture to fulfill its basic task of sustaining the national identity." In his first speech as minister, he stated that "the culture's party is the culture itself" and that the “ministry will always cope with the society demands, never serving a power project."

Calero, a 33-year-old career diplomat, pledged that his administration will be marked by a "broad, frank, and productive" dialogue with the culture's several sectors. "A dialogue not aimed to be an end in itself, but resulting in effective improvements. I will be the minister of dialogue, increasing social participation, seeking solutions that resulted from debate and understanding," he pledged.

The Ministry of Culture had been cut and its assignments given to the Ministry of Education. The decision sparked protests throughout Brazil and led acting President Michel Temer to recreate the ministry.

Marcelo Calero was municipal secretary for culture in Rio de Janeiro since last year.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta

Relacionadas

Diplomat takes helm of Brazil Education Ministry culture division