All the President's Men
President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's cabinet members are mostly from his own party, the PT. Four of them are women, five have no party affiliation. Here's a list and the pictures of the new ministers and secretaries.
There were few surprises when President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finally announced the last names of his ministerial list on Monday, December 23. At the end, only six cabinet members—all of them of lesser importance—were chosen outside the PT (Workers' Party), Lula's own party. The cabinet comprises 26 ministries plus seven secretariats. Fourteen posts were offered to PT members and the rest to people with no party affiliation.
The President-elect created a few portfolios to add to the cabinet, including: Secretaria de Segurança Alimentar (Food Security Secretariat), Assistência Social (Social Welfare) and Ministério das Cidades (Cities Ministry). The new cabinet members will be sworn in with Lula when he is inaugurated on January 1st.
After announcing the complete list of his cabinet, Lula declared, "Everyone may believe that the people that have been called on may have defects, which is true of any human being. But the raw truth is that we've chosen, if not all, some of those who are going to give all of themselves for the better of this country."
The two top economic posts went to PT faithfuls. Antonio Palocci, a moderate PT aide, was chosen as Finance Minister. The post of Planning and Budget Minister—the position is being touted as a key and very powerful one— went to Guido Mantega, a university professor, and Lula's long-time economic advisor.