Background
Amorim was born in Santos, São Paulo, on 3 June 1942.
Diplomat Ministry of External Relations (Brazil
Amorim was born in Santos, São Paulo, on 3 June 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 his post-graduate degree in International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in 1967.
Before his appointment by Lula, Amorim served as Brazil"s ambassador to the United Kingdom. On 7 October 2009, Amorim was named the "world"s best foreign minister" by Foreign Policy magazine blogger David Rothkopf. 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.
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 Kosovo–Yugoslavia 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 World Trade Organization later that year, and served for two years before becoming ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2001. On 19 July 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 World Trade Organization talks to the work of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. This brought a swift condemnation from the United States. State Department.
He is a permanent member of the Foreign Affairs Department of the University of São Paulo Institute of Advanced Studies.