Brasilia - The new transparency minister in Brazil resigned over a phone call where he was apparently recorded opposing an ongoing corruption investigation.
It was the latest blow to the government of interim President Michel Temer, who appointed Fabiano Silveira to the position May 12 to lead the government's fight against corruption.
In the recording first released by broadcaster Globo Monday, Silveira can apparently be heard explaining to Senate President Renan Calheiros how to resist a corruption investigation over state oil company Petrobras.
He is also heard talking to Sergio Machado, the president of Petrobras subsidiary Transpetro.
Machado and Calheiros are both under investigation by state prosecutors.
Silveira offered his resignation on Monday, a week after Planning Minister Romero Juca quit after he was apparently recorded telling Machado over the phone that “a change of government is necessary to end the bleeding.”
Critics said he was referring to the investigation.
Juca said he was referring to the importance of saving the economy.
The interim government took power after former president Dilma Rousseff was suspended on May 12 amid impeachment proceedings over her alleged manipulation of budget figures.
Rousseff has said the alleged acts do not warrant an impeachment, and the move is a coup by rivals who are under threat from the corruption probe.
Machado has said he would cooperate with prosecutors over the Petrobras affair in return for leniency.
DPA