Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday named General Walter Souza Braga Netto as his new chief of staff.
Braga Netto, 63, is currently the army’s chief of staff and its second in command. He is the second active-duty general in Bolsonaro’s Cabinet after four-star Army General Luiz Eduardo Ramos, the secretary of government, and Air Force Lieutenant Marcos Pontes, Brazil’s minister of science and technology.
Netto will replace Onyx Lorenzoni will be the new Minister of Cities.
He has held the chief of staff position since the beginning of the current administration.
Netto is best known for leading a military takeover of security in Rio de Janeiro in 2018.
It is the third cabinet shift in the Brazilian government since the beginning of February and the first time since 1981 that Brazil has a chief of staff who has an active duty in the army.
Last year, Bolsonaro, a former Army captain, took office after winning Brazil’s presidential election on a conservative platform. He vowed to break away from traditional parties, leaving the small Social Liberal Party that nominated him for the president to form his own Alliance for Brazil movement.
The chief of staff job is one of the most influential positions in Brazilian politics.
However, Bolsonaro has stripped the office of several key duties, including transferring a program responsible for drawing investment for the privatization of state assets to the Economy Ministry.