Marta laments budget cuts in Culture.
"We fought to prevent this from happening, but it really wasn't possible. We had cuts in several ministries, and the Ministry of Culture was one of them. We had to make fiscal adjustments, and the government prioritized other areas. It was a shame, but we will try to improve," said Minister Marta Suplicy.
Cristina Indian of Brazil
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Rio de Janeiro - The Ministry of Culture was one of those that suffered budget cuts in 2014. According to Minister Marta Suplicy, these cuts are a result of fiscal adjustments that also affected other sectors of the government. She emphasized, however, that she intends to increase resources, although she did not specify the alternatives.
“I saw that there is a difficult fiscal adjustment for all areas of the government and we will try to fix this next year through other means and possibilities. We fought to prevent this from happening, but it really wasn't possible. We had cuts in several ministries and the Ministry of Culture was one of them. We had to make the fiscal adjustment and the government prioritized other areas. It was a shame, but we will try to improve,” he said.
The minister also commented on the negotiations that the Ministries of Culture and Planning are conducting to address the demands for salary changes and career advancement plans for civil servants.
“We will begin analyzing the requests to have a counter-proposal based on what has been received, sit down at a table and see how we move forward. But I think we have opened a dialogue. This situation has been going on for many years. I think the time has come to sit down and negotiate seriously. And where we end up will depend on the economic circumstances and the possibilities. I perfectly understand the demands,” he declared.
Marta Suplicy reported that the demands are in a letter delivered to her by a group of civil servants in the sector. “There are several projects already at the [Ministry of] Planning. They have been requesting a reassessment of career plans, etc., for a long time. So now we have to sit down and see what is possible to do. I received the document, but it's not very different from what we've already been discussing. Now they have to examine the points and analyze them to see where we can get to and establish a negotiating table,” she said.