Temer praises cabinet, restates Brazil is “out of red”

In a meeting held Tuesday (May 15) with ministers and Congress members to celebrate two years of government, President Michel Temer said that the cabinet staff he put together after taking office was “one of the best of all times,” adding that it managed to bring the country out of its economic recession.

“We had to assemble a group capable of overcoming the worse recession in history. And we managed to have one of the best teams of all times. The results are plain to see. We have been responsible and are proud to have led the country out of the biggest recession in its history,” the president said, remembering the country’s landscape when he became president, in May, 2016.

It took courage, Temer went on to say, to face the critics. “A lot of people said no to what we were doing. But we—our team and I—were convinced that we should say yes; because we had a plan and the courage necessary to put it into practice, for its objectives and strategies, not just wishes,” he said, adding he is responsible for the choices made under this government.

“I admit before everyone that I feel responsible for the attitudes and choices I’ve made—I was constantly thinking of a bigger Brazil. […] Without a doubt, I believe we were all responsible for bringing Brazil out of the red and putting it on the right track.”

Earlier on, the Planalto presidential palace released a report with the measures adopted throughout this period, among them the rises in the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program, the reduction in the inflation and interest rate, the highschool reform, and the creation of jobs.