Brazil's President Lula fires minister for sexual harassment

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fired his human rights minister Silvio Almeida on Friday after he was accused of sexually harassing several women, including a cabinet colleague.

The scandal, which has sparked outrage in Brazil, is the first of its kind involving a member of Lula's government since the veteran leftist returned to power last year.

“In view of the serious accusations against Minister Silvio Almeida and after summoning him for an interview, President Lula decided to remove the head of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship,” the president said in a statement.

“The President considers it untenable for the Minister to remain in office given the nature of the allegations,” the statement continued.

“It will give me a chance to prove my innocence and recover from this,” he said.

The news site Metropoles reported on Thursday that the women's association Me Too Brasil had received complaints against Almeida from several women, including from Minister for Racial Equality Anielle Franco.

Me Too Brasil confirmed the report and said the women affected had “received psychological and legal support.”

The federal police announced on Friday that they would investigate the allegations, and the President's Ethics Commission also announced that it had launched an investigation.

Almeida, a 48-year-old lawyer and university professor who is considered one of Brazil's leading intellectuals, had previously dismissed the allegations as “lies” aimed at tarnishing the image of a “black man who occupies a prominent position in public service.”

Franco, 40, is also black.

After Almeida's dismissal, she wrote on Instagram that it was “unacceptable to downplay or trivialize acts of violence” and praised Lula's “vigorous action.”

Welcoming the expressions of solidarity she had received, she added: “We know how much women and girls suffer from harassment every day, at work, on public transport, at school and at home.”

On Friday, the news site UOL published the account of one of Almeida's accusers, a university professor, who said the minister groped her in front of about 15 people during a dinner in 2019.

“There were a lot of people there, I was wearing a skirt and I remember his hand on my private parts,” she said, adding: “I was ashamed.”

Before his meeting with Almeida on Friday, Lula issued a stern warning about possible cases of sexual harassment in his team.

“What I can say is that anyone who engages in harassment cannot remain in the government,” he told Brazilian radio station Difusora Goiania, while stressing Almeida's right to the presumption of innocence.

On Thursday, the government acknowledged the “seriousness” of the allegations made against the minister and assured that they would be “treated with the rigor and speed that situations of possible violence against women require.”

Almedia's wife Edneia Carvalho, with whom he has a one-year-old daughter, described the allegations against the minister on Instagram as “unfair” and “absurd”.

While this is the first scandal involving alleged sexual misconduct by a member of Lula's government, it is not the first time one of his ministers has been accused of a crime.

In June, the federal police recommended charging Communications Minister Juscelino Filho with corruption and collaboration with criminals.

Filho denied the allegations and has so far kept his job.