The Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense (CRE) elected Senator Margareth Buzetti (PP-MT) as the new president of the collegiate. The presidency of CRE is vacant due to the removal of senator Kátia Abreu, who presided over the collegiate and is now running for reelection for the state of Tocantins.
Ahead of the commission, Abreu defended closer ties with China, the European Union and the BRICS, a group of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The term of office of committee chairmen in the Senate is two years, but Margareth Buzetti will remain in office until the end of this legislative session, in December. From the beginning of the next legislature, in February 2023, the new officers of all the permanent committees of the Senate will be elected.
At CRE, the nominees for the position of ambassador of Brazil in other countries are interviewed, in addition to other names that need to be endorsed in plenary. At the beginning of each legislative session, the commission holds public hearings with the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense to provide information on the attributions of their portfolios.
CRE is also responsible for appreciating international cooperation agreements signed between Brazil and other countries and validated by the Senate.
Senator Margareth Gettert Buzetti (PP-MT) took office in June, as the first substitute for Senator Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT), licensed for health care. In her inaugural speech, Margareth, who is a businesswoman, criticized the persistence of machismo and hypocrisy and stated that her presence in the Senate represents a new Brazil that “has blossomed far beyond prejudice”.
