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Brazil's Temer adds woman to all-male cabinet

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AFP Brasilia
Brazilian President Michel Temer has named a woman to his cabinet, after causing outcry by forming the first all-male, all-white government since the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship.

Temer announced lawyer Grace Maria Fernandes Mendonca as his new attorney general, replacing Fabio Medina Osorio.

Temer became interim president in May when Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first woman president, was suspended to face an impeachment trial on charges of taking unauthorised loans to mask a budget deficit.

He was sworn in as president on August 31 when Rousseff was convicted in the Senate, and will serve out the rest of her term to the end of 2018.
 

Rousseff, a leftist and former anti-dictatorship guerrilla, denies breaking the law, and accuses Temer and his center-right allies of ousting her in a "coup."

Temer immediately stoked controversy with his cabinet picks, naming a team consisting of 22 white men in a country known for its diversity.

He also caused outcry by eliminating the culture ministry -- a decision he has since reversed -- and naming several ministers implicated in corruption scandals, three of whom have been forced to resign.

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First Published: Sep 10 2016 | 3:22 AM IST

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