The formal appointment of the agency's president has been delayed amid disagreements between the government and parliament.
Diogo Thomson de Andrade has become the second interim president of Brazil’s competition regulator in less than a year. He took over the position after Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Lima concluded his term at the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) on Saturday.
De Andrade’s first business day is this Monday, although he officially took office on Sunday. The length of his term is unpredictable as the Brazilian government still needs to formally appoint CADE’s next president for a full four-year mandate. He automatically assumed the presidency as the authority’s longest-serving Tribunal member.
CADE’s last appointed president was Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, who led the watchdog between July 2021 and July 2025. Councilor De Lima was the first interim successor, for a term that lasted nine months and ended after his mandate expired, with no possibility of renewal.
In the photo: Diogo Thomson de Andrade © Gov.br
De Andrade has built a nearly two-decade career at the Brazilian competition regulator. He started as a CADE prosecutor in 2007 and held several positions in the following years, such as Deputy Superintendent for more than 10 years from 2012 onwards. He was also interim Superintendent on two occasions.
He joined CADE’s Tribunal as councilor in 2023, alongside three other councilors — Camila Cabral Pires Alves, Carlos Jacques Vieira Gomes, and José Levi Mello do Amaral Júnior.
“His rise to the top position at the authority crowns a singular institutional trajectory: few officials know CADE as deeply as Thomson, who has moved through the agency’s structures for nearly two decades and, in different roles, has taken part in some of the most significant moments in Brazil’s competition policy,”
CADE said in an official statement.
De Andrade assumed the CADE presidency at a moment of uncertainty regarding the authority’s short-term future. Currently, the Tribunal has only four members, the minimum number required for ruling sessions, according to the watchdog’s rules. José Levi is rumored to be leaving his position — neither he nor CADE has commented on this.
There is also uncertainty over who will be appointed CADE’s next president, but rumors suggest that Councilor Vieira Gomes is the strongest contender.
Under Brazilian law, CADE officials — including the president, superintendent, and councilors — are appointed by the country’s president. These appointments, as well as others in different authorities, are currently stalled due to political disputes between the government and the Senate.
Candidates are vetted by senators and then approved or rejected.
It is expected that CADE’s next president could be appointed once the Senate proceeds with the nomination of a new Brazilian Supreme Federal Court justice. Jorge Messias’ hearing is scheduled for April 29, after several months of waiting.
CADE will also have a new vacancy starting in late June, when Superintendent Alexandre Barreto de Souza’s term comes to an end.
Source: MLex
