Brazilian ministerial misconduct will not be tolerated

“People see the president taking measures to make things work properly,” said Bernardo, referring to the removal of a number of individuals (more than a dozen so far) in the ministry and ancillary departments, such as DNIT (transportation infrastructure) and Valec (railroads). The minister of Transportation himself was replaced.

“As soon as charges of misconduct become public, the government has an obligation to go into action,” declared Bernardo.

The minister said that due to the amount of money handled by DNIT in its annual budget, some 13 billion reais (US$8.49bn), it is almost impossible not to have some problems. “There will always be problems with that much money,” he said.