Brazil nominates its WTO representative

Guilherme Patriota speaks before a Senate committee in 2015. Photo: Geraldo Magela/SF

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has announced the nomination of Guilherme Patriota as Brazil’s next permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.

A career diplomat, Mr. Patriota is currently Brazil’s Consul General in Tokyo. He is the brother of Antonio Patriota, who served as foreign minister from 2011 to 2013 during the Dilma Rousseff administration.

Mr. Patriota replaces Alexandre Parola, who was appointed last year to represent Brazil at the OECD in Paris. The appointments are pending Senate approval.

Back in 2015, the Senate rejected Mr. Patriota’s appointment as Brazil’s representative at the Organization of American States — at a time when Congress was highly hostile to the Dilma Rousseff administration. It was the only time in recent history that the Senate rejected a diplomatic appointment. Ms. Rousseff was impeached the following year.

In May 2022, Congress enacted a law submitted by the Bolsonaro government that authorizes Brazil’s Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex) to apply unilateral trade sanctions against countries with which Brazil has disputes pending at the WTO.