Joaquim Barbosa is elected as Brazil’s first black Supreme Court president

Judge Joaquim Barbosa

Brazil’s first black Supreme Court justice has been chosen as the presiding judge for the high court.

Joaquim Barbosa was elected Wednesday as Supreme Court president. His two-year tenure begins next month with the retirement of the court’s current president, Carlos Ayres Britto.

Barbosa currently is presiding over a high-profile corruption trial involving a congressional cash-for-votes scheme.

Brazil has the largest black population after Nigeria, but black people rarely achieve high office. This appointment has great significance, as it indicates to society the end of certain visible and invisible barriers.

His election is not a surprise because the Supreme Court presidency always goes to the justice who has sat on the bench the longest. Barbosa became a Supreme Court justice in 2003 and is the only black to have ever served on the court.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press