Celso Amorim
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
Who is Celso Amorim?
The foreign minister of Brazil is a key policymaker in President Lula da Silva's
administration. He is the standard-bearer for the aggressive foreign policy
which is designed to put the country at the centre of the discussions between
the world's developed economies and the developing ones. Celso Amorim is something
of an institution in Brazil and one of the region's top intellectuals.
Why watch him?
Amorim has led Brazil's tough line in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
negotiations with the US. He has also encouraged the strategy of forming alliances
with other major countries, to form a group to stand up to the US in international
negotiations. The results of this policy have been economic and political agreements
with China and India and Brazil's unquestioned leadership of Mercosul. Brazil
is now looking for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Born: 3 June 1942.
Place of birth: Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Education:
Graduated from the Instituto Rio Branco in 1965. Post graduate degree in International
Relations from the Academia Diplomática of Vienna in 1967. Doctorate
in political science and international relations from the London School of Economics
(1968/1970). Professor of political sciences and International relations at
the Universidade de Brasília.
Public life:
He has been the dominant figure in Brazilian foreign policymaking for the past
20 years, He started as a third secretary in the foreign ministry and moved
quickly up through the ranks to first secretary, then secretary-general and
finally foreign minister. He is married to Ana Maria Amorim, and has four children
(Vicente, Anita, João and Pedro).
Timeline
2003: Named as foreign minister by President Lula da Silva.
2001: Chairman of the services committee of the World Trade Organisation.
2000-2001: Chairman of the management committee of the International
Labour Organisation.
1999-2001: Brazil's ambassador to the ILO
1997: Adviser to the president of the UN's general assembly on how to
reform the UN.
1993-1994: Foreign minister, appointed by President Fernando Enrique
Cardoso.
1993: Secretary-general at the foreign ministry.
1993: Director-general of the economics department at the foreign ministry.
1989-1990: Director-general of the cultural department at the foreign
ministry.
1985-1988: Minister of international affairs at the science and technology
ministry.
1979-1982: Managing director of EMBRAFILME.
Strong points:
He is one of the most prominent Latin American diplomats and one of the 50 most
influential players on the world stage. He has his own ideas on foreign policy,
beyond those of the administration of President Lula. Yet under Lula he is working
to cement Brazil's position as one of the 10 most powerful countries on the
planet. He is a tough and canny negotiator with a powerful mind that is respected
even by his political opponents. He is probably the third-most powerful man
in the Brazilian government after President Lula and his right-hand man, José
Dirceu.
Weak points:
He does not have a political base within Lula's Partido dos Trabalhadores. The
party is unhappy with Amorim's pragmatic, rather than principled, approach to
foreign policy. In the US he is seen as anti-American. Amorim has, however,
consistently affirmed support for the US, though Brazil has a succession of
commercial squabbles with it.
Prospects:
Amorim is a key figure in the Lula administration and its policy of raising
Brazil's international profile. He has chalked up several victories, notably
the tripartite alliance with India and China which sunk the attempt by the US
and the European Union to impose their wishes on the rest of the world at the
recent World Trade Organization meeting in Cancún. He also scored another
victory in getting the US to accept Brazil's vision of how the FTAA should develop.
This record means that Amorim has plenty of credit with the government. One
area where Amorim may face problems is with Brazil's allies in Mercosul. They
are getting increasingly fed up at being taken for granted by Brazil.