Sérgio Camargo suspended from Brazil's Fundação Cultural Palmares amid discrimination allegations

Sérgio Camargo, president of Brazil's Fundação Cultural Palmares, has been suspended following accusations of bullying and discrimination. The Public Ministry of Labour is pursuing legal action to remove him, alleging he created a 'climate of psychological terror' and targeted staff deemed leftist. Camargo, a Black supporter of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, was appointed in November 2019 and has made controversial statements about race, including calling slavery 'beneficial to the descendants' and advocating for the abolition of Black Awareness Day on 20 November, which honors Zumbi dos Palmares. He denies all charges, dismissing a Globo news investigation as 'frivolous, false and unfounded.' Under his leadership, biographies of left-wing Black figures like Benedita da Silva, Marielle Franco, and Zumbi were removed from the foundation's website. Camargo has also criticized militant Black women as 'slaves of the left' and claimed real racism exists only in the United States. His suspension leaves Bolsonaro nominally in charge of the foundation, which is tasked with preserving Afro-Brazilian culture.