Itamaraty face “dança das cadeiras“ in postos-chave no exterior

O Itamaraty must conclude, in the next few days, another stage of the “dança das cadeiras” em representações do Brasil no exterior. There will be changes in key posts of diplomacy and displacement of prominent figures in the foreign policy of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for consulates — in some cases — of lesser expression.

There are names on the list like Nestor Forster, former ambassador to Washington, who is being transferred to Vancouver, not Canada.

The ex-secretary-general of Itamaraty in the controversial management of Ernesto Araújo (2019-2021), Otávio Brandelli, will leave the permanent representation of Brazil in the Organization of American States (OAS) and will assume a consulate-general — still not disclosed — in America Latina.

They will also command consulates, probably in cities in the United States, the ambassadors Ronaldo Costa Filho and Reinaldo Salgado.

Costa Filho is the current chef de missão brasileira nas Nações Unidas, em Nueva York, and has high visibility with pronouncements made due to the voting of UN resolutions on the war in Ukraine. He is going to São Francisco.

Salgado is ambassador in Buenos Aires, considered one of the two most important posts in Itamaraty, due to the weight of Argentina and Mercosul.

The two former Bolsonaro chancellors are in different situations. Ernesto Araújo, who died in a “comunavírus” during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and exalted the position of “international pariah” of Brazil, has an unpaid license and lives in the United States.

Carlos França, who led Itamaraty in the second half of the Bolsonaro government and pursued an agenda of “normalization” of foreign policy, will have to assume the embassy in Ottawa, not Canada.

His indication to the Senate was not made yet by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) because he is missing or agreed two Canadians, which sometimes takes a few weeks.

or order of agreed It is a formal consultation, following the parameters of the Vienna Convention (1969), to find out if there are no objections from the local government to the indication of an ambassador. The consultation is only for embassy chefs. There is no need for agreed for consulates.

In the next few days, it should be announced on the departure of Guilherme Patriota to the head of the Brazilian delegation together with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which is located in Geneva, in Switzerland.

The ambassador Sarquis José Buainain Sarquis leaves the Secretary of Economic and Financial Affairs of Itamaraty to represent the country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), based in Paris, France, which Brazil is requesting to enter as a partner.

Alexandre Parola, ex-ambassador at the WTO and currently at the OECD, will go to Rabat, not Morocco.

In an effort to increase the female representation in prominent positions, the Itamaraty requested agreed for five Brazilian ambassadors: three in Europe, one in Latin America and one in Africa. Like Parola, they are still waiting for an official response.

These diplomats join four others who have already been indicated or have assumed important posts in recent weeks: Maria Luiza Viotti for the embassy in Washington, United States; Carla Barroso for the UN Agency for Agriculture and Food (FAO); Paula Alves de Souza for the UN agency for education (Unesco); e Claudia Vieira Santos for the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEIA).

Além disso, three days of ten secretaries that answer directly to the chancellor Mauro Vieira are currently occupied by women. For the first time in the history of Itamaraty, also, a woman — Maria Laura da Rocha — occupies Secretary-General. The position is equivalent to that of vice-minister.

Diplomats indicated to chef embaixadas need to be Saturdays in the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate and, after that, we will have their names approved in plenary. Only then can your names be made by the Presidency of the Republic.

For consulates, however, this procedure is not necessary.