Overview
- Antonio Mauad has left the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional and the Defense Ministry says his exit was planned and a replacement will be announced soon.
- Staff inside the SMN say Mauad’s short, contested tenure exacerbated long‑running management conflicts and deepened workplace unrest.
- Large staffing cuts have reduced capacity: 121 employees were dismissed from 2023–2025 and roughly 140 contracts were not renewed this year.
- Promised investments in new equipment and automation have not arrived and there are no confirmed delivery dates for the upgrades.
- Meteorological and scientific groups warn that the combination of job losses, leadership turnover and missing technology undermines the agency’s ability to monitor storms, floods and heatwaves and could harm public safety and institutional trust.