Brasília - Today president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will spend most of the day at the Brazilian White House, the Palacio do Planalto. First, he will meet with presidential aides at 9:00 am. Then, at 10:00 am, he will attend a ceremony for the swearing in of the country's new chief prosecutor (Procurador Geral da Republica) (PGR), Antonio Fernando Barros e Silva, who has been a government prosecutor for 30 years and substitutes Claudio Lemos Fonteles who had been the PGR since June 2003. At 11:30 am, Lula will attend another ceremony for the announcement of a series of measures to combat corruption. Among other things, the measures include the establishment of the new Executive Branch Controller System (Sistema Corregedoria do Poder Executivo Federal) and set up a Transparency Portal.
In the afternoon, the president will leave the Palacio do Planalto and attend the opening ceremony of the 1st National Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality at the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center here in Brasilia. That event begins at 3:30 pm. Some 1,200 elected delegates representing Brazil's racial diversity will attend with the objective of reducing racial inequality and promoting the inclusion of the excluded.
At 5:00 pm, back in the Palacio do Planalto, the president will hold talks with the governor of the state of Pernambuco, Jarbas Vasconcelos. Following that he will meet with the president of the São Francisco River Hydroelectric Company (Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco) (Chesf), Dilton da Conti Oliveira.
Translator: Allen Bennett