Brazil's vice president says he would support President Jair Bolsonaro if he decides to nominate his son to be ambassador to the United States.
Vice President Hamilton Mourao said Monday that he believed Eduardo Bolsonaro met the country's legal requirements for the job and he didn't see "any problems."
Critics have accused the president of nepotism and questioned his son's qualifications for one of Brazil's most important diplomatic postings. Eduardo Bolsonaro currently serves as a congressman.
In this May 29, 2019 handout photo provided by Agencia Brasil, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro listens as Carla Zambelli whispers into his ear during a meeting at Congress, in Brasilia, Brazil. Several weeks after publishing explosive reports on a top member of Brazil’s far-right government, U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald sat before the Human Rights and Minorities Commission. During the June 25 hearing Zambelli told Greenwald: "If you don't prove this information, it is fake and you're a liar. If it's true, then you're a criminal because you hacked someone's phone." (Marcelo CamargoAgencia Brasil via AP)
The previous U.S. ambassador left the position on June 3.
In a bid to alleviate tensions around Brazil's commitment to fight climate change, Mourao also stressed at a rare meeting with foreign correspondents that the country would preserve its biodiversity and remain part of the Paris agreement.