"Amazons" give female face to Brazil's Cabinet in wake of scandal

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who promised in her campaign to fight gender discrimination, last week promoted two more women to key political posts following a scandal that toppled her Cabinet chief, Antonio Palocci.

Rousseff, who last year was elected Brazil's first woman president, moved ex-Fisheries Minister Ideli Salvatti to the Ministry of Institutional Affairs on June 10, giving her the delicate task of overseeing relations with Congress. Earlier in the week she named Senator Gleisi Hoffmann as her cabinet chief, replacing Palocci, who resigned amid allegations he used his position to enrich himself.

The Brazilian media has made much of the nominations, dubbing Rousseff's new government an administration of "Amazons." Leading daily O Globo said Rousseff is looking to surround herself with "aggressive" negotiators like herself to discipline an unruly congressional coalition.

Salvatti is known for her explosive temper, but in her new position she is responsible for the delicate job of coordinating relations between the government, its coalition partners and opposition parties in the parliament where her Workers Party (PT) lacks a majority and needs the support of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and other coalition partners to pass legislation.

"We can't believe it," one PT member told O Globo. "It's like putting an angry elephant inside a porcelain shop."

Salvatti was known in the Senate for her "aggressive style defending the government of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva," said O Globo, referring to Rousseff's predecessor and political godfather.

In her first announcement after taking on her new role, Salvatti tried to calm those fears. "I do not know if I will be the little Ideli of 'peace and love' but I would like to be the Ideli who listens more and negotiates more," she said.

Rousseff failed to rally support in Congress behind Palocci after Folha de São Paulo daily reported last month that he made $12 million last year as a financial consultant while managing her campaign. The opposition and members of the PT, were pressing for a congressional inquiry into his enlarged income.