Camilo Santana elected leader of Brazil's PT Senate caucus

Camilo Santana, former education minister and two‑term governor of Ceará, was chosen on 8 July as the new leader of the Workers' Party (PT) in the Brazilian Senate, succeeding Teresa Leitão after Jaques Wagner’s exit. The appointment positions Santana at the forefront of the party’s legislative strategy and as a key interlocutor with Senate President Davi Alcolumbre.

On 7 June, Santana had also been elected president of the Senate’s Education and Culture Commission, taking over the role from Teresa Leitão. He pledged to continue the commission’s work, stressing that education is a supra‑partisan priority and stating, “Education, for me, is a principle of life.”

As PT leader, Santana said he will seek to ease tensions between President Lula and the Senate presidency and to advance priority government proposals, including ending the 6×1 work‑shift system, the Public‑Security constitutional amendment, and projects on rare‑earth minerals. He also voiced opposition to fast‑tracking a homeschooling bill, calling for broader parliamentary debate.