Following accusations of corruption in the Brazilian ministry of agriculture by the magazine Veja and newspaper Folha de São Paulo, Minister Wagner Rossi resigned on Aug. 17, reported BBC Mundo.
Rossi wrote in his resignation letter that he was "confronted daily with an avalanche of false accusations without any proof." The ex-minister also accused the media of bad faith and orchestrating a "sordid campaign" against him in favor of his political enemies, according to UOL Noticias.
According to Rossi, his version of the facts was ignored by the media, reported G1. "I'm not afraid of this rotten part of the Brazilian press but I can't let my personal anger become these cowards' instrument to attack my friends and family," he added in the letter.
An official representative from President Dilma Rousseff's administration lamented that Rossi was not "presumed innocent of the accusations against him," reported O Dia.
