巴西国防部长被撤职

President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil has replaced her defence minister after he made disparaging¹ remarks about other senior officials.

巴西国防部长对其他高级官员发表轻蔑言辞，总统迪尔玛·罗赛夫因此将其撤职。

Nelson Jobim was first appointed by the former president, Lula da Silva
Nelson Jobim is the third minister to lose his job since Ms Rousseff took office in January - a turnover² that has strained her governing coalition³.

He is reported to have called one fellow minister a "weakling" and described others as "idiots".

Mr Jobim will be replaced by the former Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim.

Nelson Jobim is one of several ministers who also served under Ms Rousseff's predecessor⁴, Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva.

Overruled

He is said to have been angry that Ms Rousseff overruled（否决） him on a multi-billion dollar contract to buy fighter jets.

In recent weeks he been reported as making a series of critical remarks about fellow ministers.

First he said at an opposition⁵ event that he was surrounded by "idiots".

Then he said in a television interview that he had voted for Ms Rousseff's opponent Jose Serra in last year's presidential election.

The final straw appears to have been a magazine interview, parts of which have been leaked, in which he reportedly called another minister a "weakling".

Mr Jobim's resignation is the third to shake Ms Rousseff's government since she took office on 1 January.

Last month her Transport Minister, Alfredo Nascimiento, resigned over a corruption⁶ scandal in his department, though he denied any wrongdoing.

And in June her chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, stepped down in the face of questions about his rapid accumulation of personal wealth.