SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s government announced on Wednesday that Marcos Montes will take over as the country’s agriculture minister as current office holder Tereza Cristina Dias is set to resign to run for Senate.
Montes – a doctor, former congressman and mayor of Uberaba – was serving as Dias’ deputy in the ministry. He will take office on Thursday, according to the ministry’s press department.
Tereza Cristina Dias had been head of the ministry since January 2019, when President Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in. She will now run for Senate in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in an October election.
In Brazil, office holders are required to leave their jobs before the election if they wish to run for a different role.
(Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sandra Maler)
