[1][2] On November 7, 2019[3] he was nominated Special Secretary for Culture under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism,[4] only to be fired on January 17, 2020, after plagiarizing a speech by German Nazi politician Joseph Goebbels in a government-sanctioned video.

[11][12] In response, Alvim posted a Facebook update[13] in which he states he "hasn't cited anyone" and that the whole incident was a mere "rhetorical coincidence".

[10][14] The German art of the next decade will be heroic, it will be steely-romantic, it will be factual and completely free of sentimentality, it will be national will great pathos and binding, or it will be nothing.The Brazilian art of the next decade will be heroic and will be national, will be endowed with great capacity for emotional involvement... deeply linked to the urgent aspirations of our people, or else it will be nothing.Following the public's reaction, on 17 January 2020, Alvim was fired.

[5] Addressing the controversy, president Jair Bolsonaro stated: "I repeat our rejection of totalitarian and genocidal ideologies, as well as any allusion to it".

[12][15] Regina Duarte was subsequently invited to be Special Secretary of Culture,[16] succeeding Alvim, but she did not immediately accept the job.