SAO PAULO (AP) _ 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.
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.
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