Brazilian unions block Bolsonaro ally from WB
Brazilian trade unions in the construction, wood and other industries joined different civil society organisations in calling their government to cancel its nomination of former Minister of Education Abraham Weintraub to the World Bank as Executive Director representing Brazil at the Executive Board of Directors of the World Bank Group.
Trade unionists strongly disapprove of Weintraub’s nomination, saying that his “disastrous tenure” as education minister ran contrary to the development and multilateralism policies that the international financial institution represents. They also object to Weintraub’s nomination over his past racist comments, particularly statements against the Chinese and indigenous people. He is also accused of disseminating fake news online. The trade unionists said that Weintraub’s past statements and actions were not in line with the WB’s code of conduct for directors.
As part of their efforts to block Weintraub’s nomination, Brazilian trade unions have reached out to countries that are members of the WB Executive Board. They communicated with allied organisations in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago in coming up with a petition to be submitted to the WB Ethics Committee.
It was reported that Weintraub is one of President Jair Bolsonaro’s most loyal right-wing ideologues in the government. He resigned as education minister last June in a bid to join the WB.