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Brazil's minister of culture resigns to focus on artistic career

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-29 10:56

BRASILIA -- Gilberto Gil, Brazil's Minister of Culture and one of the country's best known singers, on Thursday formally resigned from his post in the government, so as to dedicate more to his artistic career.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the same day named Juca Ferreira, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Culture during Gil's six-and-a-half-year tenure, as Gil's successor in a nomination ceremony held in the president palace.

At the ceremony, Lula said he was sad about Gil's departure, and said that Gil, unlike many ministers who were forgotten by the public after they leave jobs, will remain popular among Brazilians.

Gil, winner of two Grammy Awards and two Latin Grammy Awards, has been the Minister of Culture since Lula started his first term as president; while Ferreira, born in Salvad, capital of Bahia state, was a sociologist and a member of the Green Party.