Politics

Philosopher Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez tapped as minister of education

Jair Bolsonaro made the announcement on Twitter

Agência Brasil

Published on 23/11/2018 - 12:22

Brasília

Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez é indicado para o Ministério da Educação no governo de Jair Bolsonaro — © Ricardo Velez Rodrigues/Redes So

Brazil’s President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro announced the name of Colombian Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez as his future minister of education. The decision was published Thursday (Nov. 22) on Twitter. Author of over 30 works, he is currently emeritus professor at the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff School.

“Vélez is a philosophy professor and a master in Brazilian Thought from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, and holds a PhD in Luso-Brazilian Thought from the Gama Filho University and a post-doctorate degree from the Raymond Aron Political Research Center, in Paris, and boasts vast experience as a teacher and manager,” Bolsonaro wrote. The new minister is reported to have received Brazilian citizenship.

Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez was born in Bogotá, is 75 years old, and graduated in Philosophy and Teology. He came to Brazil to pursue graduate studies in the 70s, always in Philosophy, and obtained a master’s degree in universities in Rio de Janeiro.

Proposals of the future minister

On his blog, Rodríguez writes his ideas about the Ministry of Education. He pledges to focus on municipal education, with Bolsonaro’s motto “More Brazil, less Brasília.”