Celso Amorim Explained

Birthname:Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim
Office:Chief Advisor to the President of Brazil for Foreign Policy
Term Start:5 January 2023
President:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Office1:Minister of Defence
Term Start1:5 August 2011
Term End1:31 December 2014
President1:Dilma Rousseff
Predecessor1:Nelson Jobim
Successor1:Jaques Wagner
Office2:Minister of Foreign Affairs
Term Start2:1 January 2003
Term End2:31 December 2010
President2:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Predecessor2:Celso Lafer
Successor2:Antonio Patriota
Term Start3:20 July 1993
Term End3:31 December 1994
President3:Itamar Franco
Predecessor3:Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Successor3:Luiz Felipe Lampreia
Office4:Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom
Term Start4:16 December 2001
Term End4:27 December 2002
Nominator4:Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Predecessor4:Sérgio Amaral
Successor4:José Bustani
Office5:Secretary General of Foreign Affairs
Term Start5:23 June 1993
Term End5:1 September 1993
President5:Itamar Franco
Predecessor5:Luiz Felipe Lampreia
Successor5:Roberto Abdenur
Birth Date:3 June 1942
Birth Place:Santos, São Paulo, Brazil
Spouse:Ana Maria Amorim
Children:4
Alma Mater:
Party:Workers' Party (since 2009)
Otherparty:PMDB (1980–2009)
Signature:Celso Amorim signature.jpg

Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim (born 3 June 1942) is a Brazilian diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 20 July 1993 to 31 December 1994 under President Itamar Franco and again from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He was Minister of Defence from 5 August 2011 to 31 December 2014 under President Dilma Rousseff.[1] [2]

Before his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs by Lula, Amorim served as Brazil's ambassador to the United Kingdom.[3] On 7 October 2009, Amorim was named the "world's best foreign minister" by Foreign Policy magazine blogger David Rothkopf.[4] On 5 January 2023, Amorim was appointed as Chief Advisor for Foreign Policy by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.[5]

Early life and academic career

Amorim was born in Santos, São Paulo, on June 3, 1942.

He graduated from the Rio Branco Institute, a graduate school of international relations run by the Ministry of External Relations, in 1965, and obtained a post-graduate degree in International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in 1967.

Amorim was a professor of Portuguese language at the Rio Branco Institute, as well as professor of political science and international relations at the University of Brasília. He is a permanent member of the Foreign Affairs Department of the University of São Paulo Institute of Advanced Studies.

Governmental career

Amorim has a long history of government service, beginning in 1987 when he was appointed Secretary for International Affairs for the Ministry of Science and Technology. He served in that position until 1989, when he was selected to be the Director-General for Cultural Affairs in the Ministry of External Relations. Amorim was shifted again in 1990, moving to a new post as Director-General for Economic Affairs. In 1993, he was promoted to the position of Secretary General of the Brazilian foreign-affairs agency.

While serving in the Ministry of External Relations, Amorim spent large amounts of time working as an ambassador to the United Nations. Most notably, he represented Brazil on the KosovoYugoslavia sanctions committee in 1998, and the Security Council panel on Iraq in 1999. Amorim was named as Brazil's permanent ambassador to the United Nations and the WTO later that year, and served for two years before becoming ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2001.

WTO controversy

On July 19, 2008, Amorim stirred up controversy by comparing the descriptions used by wealthier countries to characterize the agricultural concessions they were offering during the Doha Round of WTO talks to the work of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. This brought a swift condemnation from the U.S. State Department.[6]

Later career

Celso serves on the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance, chaired by Madeleine Albright and Ibrahim Gambari. In November 2016, he was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, co-chaired by Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland, and Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana.[7]

In addition, Celso holds a number of honorary positions, including the following:

In 2019, Amorim joined the inaugural meeting of the Puebla Group in Buenos Aires, a conference of left-leaning political leaders.[10]

Personal life

Amorim is married to Ana Maria Amorim and has four children: Vicente, Anita, João, and Pedro.[11]

References

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Notes and References

  1. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/10/19/10075873.html Brazil will not 'sell' Amazon
  2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903366504576488662713859144 Brazil's Defense Minister Is Ousted
  3. http://www.mre.gov.br/ingles/structure/foreing_relations/organizational/minister_foreign.asp CV of Celso Amorim on Ministry of External Relations website
  4. David Rothkopf (2009-10-07). "The world’s best foreign minister", Foreign Policy.
  5. News: Ex-chanceler Celso Amorim é nomeado para chefiar assessoria especial de Lula. 5 January 2023. G1.
  6. News: Brazil official's Nazi reference rocks WTO talks. Klapper. Bradley S.. 2008-07-19. Associated Press. Newsvine. 2009-08-04.
  7. https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sga1608.doc.htm Secretary-General Appoints Two Former Presidents, 14 Others as Members of High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines
  8. https://unitaid.org/news-blog/unitaid-welcomes-brazils-celso-amorim-new-unitaid-chair-uks-sarah-boulton-vice-chair/#en Unitaid welcomes Brazil’s Celso Amorim as new Unitaid Chair and the UK’s Sarah Boulton as Vice Chair
  9. https://www.cirsd.org/en/leadership/board Board of Advisors
  10. Nicolás Misculin (November 9, 2019), Argentina's Fernandez joins leftist leaders for 'Puebla Group' summit Reuters.
  11. Web site: Minister of External Relations: Ambassador Celso Amorim . Ministry of External Relations . 2008-11-07 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081016002729/http://www.mre.gov.br/ingles/structure/foreing_relations/organizational/minister_foreign.asp . 2008-10-16 .