“I want to thank the President of the Republic for having the confidence in me to lead this portfolio as complex as education and science,” he said in his inauguration speech.
Brunetti is part of the presidential badge of the ruling party that has Hugo Velázquez, current vice president, as the leader of the formula.
WITHOUT CHANGES
The new Secretary of State announced that there will be no changes in the most important addresses. This, in order not to waste time and work as soon as possible.
“The entire MEC technical team will continue to achieve the objectives. There will be emblematic projects that we will give more priority to, such as the Educational Transformation project”, he anticipated.
Zárate urges a great national pact to define how much the Educational Transformation project will cost in the short, medium and long term, and based on this, define the financing plans.
“It will be very important for me to talk to the unions. They are the ones who know what we must work on, so that there is an atmosphere of camaraderie. We must also increase the coverage of initial education and give strength to technical education”, she stated.
In this sense, the MEC together with the Fund for Excellence in Education and Research (FEEI), will receive US$ 24.9 million to carry out projects related to technical education and adult education.
“The technical team of the MEC will not be changed. We won’t waste a minute. We will go directly to the ministry to work, ”he concluded.
Zárate Rojas has a history of alleged irregularities when he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG).
In 2000, he was appointed head of the National Project Coordination and Administration Directorate. At that time he was linked to suspicions of corruption in the use of the millionaire resources sent by international organizations.
Zárate continued in office until 2005 when he was dismissed by decree of Nicanor Duarte Frutos, then President of the Republic. In his last stage, he held the position of Deputy Minister of Livestock. He was dismissed, specifically for irregularities committed in carrying out a project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The irregularity detected consisted of an inconsistency of US$147,000 between the money received and the money deposited for a project. The anomaly was detected by the Comptroller and the Public Ministry.
On January 22, 2018, he became Secretary of State again after being appointed as head of the MEC office to replace Enrique Riera, who resigned to run for the Senate.
