Gazeta Lodz - Bolsonaro accused of favoring Evangelical ministers

The scandal erupted when newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo revealed an audio recording of Education Minister Milton Ribeiro saying he gave priority in deciding school funding requests to municipalities governed by "friends" of the two ministers, at Bolsonaro's request.

"My first priority is to attend to the requests of the municipalities that need it most, and secondly, attend to those who are friends of Pastor Gilmar. That was a special request from the president," Ribeiro said in the recording, according to Folha.

The comment reportedly came at a meeting attended by Evangelical ministers Gilmar Santos and Arilton Moura, who wield outsize influence in the Bolsonaro administration, according to the newspaper.

The scandal triggered calls for Ribeiro -- himself a Presbyterian minister -- to resign, and for investigations of influence peddling in the far-right president's administration.

Ribeiro "has turned the education ministry into a business center for his lowly influence peddling, negotiating favors with public funds in broad daylight," tweeted left-wing Senator Fabiano Contarato, calling for the Supreme Court to order an investigation.

Ribeiro denied influence-peddling, and said in a statement Bolsonaro "did not request preferential treatment for anyone."

Bolsonaro, a conservative Catholic who comes up for reelection in October, won the presidency in 2018 with solid backing from Brazil's powerful Evangelical Christian movement.

W.Mroz--GL