Itamaraty has a new Secretary-General

The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. José Serra, has recently announced Mr. Marcos Bezerra Abott Galvão as the new Secretary-General of Itamaraty.

Mr. Marcos Galvão was the permanent representative of Brazil before the WTO and other economic organizations in Geneva. He has already worked in the Ministry of Finance as the Secretary of International Affairs from 2008 to 2010 and as Brazil’s Ambassador in Japan. Mr. Galvão has great experience in the field of foreign trade and international relations, carrying great achievements within the international trade field, including its support to the Brazilian meat producers in starting to export pork meat to Japan.

Due to his experience in foreign trade and the WTO, it seems natural that Mr. Galvão brings a more free-trade-oriented position within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when dealing with commercial aspects that were once biased towards more protectionist movement. In this sense, Mr. Galvão might be the person to foster the international trend of setting bilateral agreements, focusing on negotiating in a quid pro quo strategy, differently than the previous government actions.

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