The ambassador’s choice Mauro Vieira As Brazil’s Foreign Minister, who took office this Sunday, he is, in addition to an expected appointment, the symbol of redemption and recognition of one of the diplomats that the Jair Bolsonaro government insisted on humiliating after coming to power.
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After having been ambassador to Argentina, the United States, the United Nations and chancellor during the second term of the Government of Dilma Rousseff (2015-2016), Vieira, by direct order of the head of state, was sent to Croatia.
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As confirmed by diplomatic sources, the ambassador had requested the position in Athens, but President Bolsonaro rejected that possibility, presented by then-foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, and determined that Vieira be assigned to a lower-ranking position. Finally, the alternative was Croatia, where the ambassador remained until the end of 2022.
At 71 years old, Vieira, a man of extreme confidence of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim, has a respected experience and track record at Itamaraty. His tenure at the ministry was brief (2015-2016), but colleagues who closely followed his management affirm that Vieira “put the house in order” after an equally short period -even internally questioned- of Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo.
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Before assuming Itamaraty, the future minister headed the embassy in Buenos Aires (2004-2010), one of the most important for any Brazilian government. His time in the Argentine capital is remembered with praise by his colleagues, especially for his ability to understand local politics. Some remember how Vieira was called “Mauro” by former President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), a gesture that showed the closeness that the then ambassador had acquired with the Argentine presidential family.
During this period, Vieira took advantage of a visit by then President Lula to Buenos Aires to inaugurate a cultural space in the Brazilian embassy, with the presence of both leaders. The exhibition chosen was that of the photographer Sebastião Salgado.
Vieira also directed the Brazilian embassy in Washington (2010-2015) and, between 2016 and 2019, the Brazilian mission to the United Nations. The ambassador was also former Foreign Minister Amorim’s chief of staff and, at other times in his career, he worked alongside ambassadors of enormous prestige, such as Marcos de Azambuja, with whom he coincided, as counselor minister in Paris.
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It is a good choice, it will make the boat return to the already known route, to the correct course.
“It is a good choice, it will make the ship return to the already known route, to the correct course,” Azambuja told or globe.
The ambassador stated that Vieira “is a person who has extraordinary professionalism and the right temperament, he is a person whose life is going well.”
“Mauro will have a wonderful mission. There is nothing more pleasant than correcting a mistake. Brazil is a partner of good causes, of peace, of prosperity, of the protection of the environment, we are natural allies of the best causes”, stated Azambuja.
Vieira likes to remember his experience as an international adviser to former Science and Technology Minister Renato Archer, during the José Sarney government, as a good lesson. It was also his first contact with the political world, where he learned to move with ease.
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His opponents accuse him of having participated in articulations against Dilma’s government, but active diplomats deny that Vieira has participated in any type of agreement to harm the former president’s government. His bond of extreme trust with Amorim and also with the president-elect are used as arguments to talk about the loyalty of the future chancellor to the PT governments.
O GLOBE (BRAZIL) / GDA
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