Top-ranked Government Official, Moro Maintains Approval Rate Over 50 Percent

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Minister of Justice, Sérgio Moro, remains the most highly rated official in President Bolsonaro’s government, achieving a 54 percent very good or good score, according to a Datafolha Institute survey.

In the previous survey in July, Moro’s approval rate was virtually the same, at 55 percent. The minister’s positive assessment persists even after the ongoing leaks of conversations between Moro and members of Lava Jato; moreover, it exceeds President Bolsonaro’s approval rating by 25 points.

Of those ministers ranked below the former judge, Paulo Guedes (Economy) is the best-rated, achieving a 38 percent very good or good assessment, followed by Tarcísio de Freitas (Infrastructure), with 36 percent approval.

Two ministers involved in recent controversies, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles and Education Minister Abraham Weintraub, have similar approval rates to Bolsonaro.

The former, amid the increase in forest fires in the Amazon and international criticism, now has only a 30 percent very good or good rating, 12 points lower than in the prior Datafolha survey. Weintraub has the same 29 percent rating as Bolsonaro.

Datafolha interviewed 2,878 people in 175 municipalities in all regions of the country.