Epifanio Portela

Epifanio Portela came to diplomacy through journalism, legislative politics, and banking. Born in Buenos Aires in 1855, he wrote for major newspapers, served as a national deputy in the 1880s, and briefly joined the Buenos Aires provincial government. He later chaired the Banco Nacional during the transfer of its remaining assets and held diplomatic posts in South America and Europe. ¹

His work included turning arbitration into a negotiated frontier. In October 1898, as Argentina's plenipotentiary, he signed the boundary treaty with Brazil alongside Dionisio Evangelista de Castro Cerqueira. The agreement specified the river boundaries following Cleveland's award and established machinery for joint demarcation. ²

As minister in Washington he also represented Argentina in inter-American diplomacy. At the 1906 conference in Rio de Janeiro he introduced a resolution welcoming American and Mexican mediation of the conflict involving Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The conference adopted it unanimously and sent it to both governments. ³

Portela briefly served as foreign minister under President Roque Sáenz Peña in 1910. He subsequently represented Argentina in Italy and Switzerland, with his residence in Rome, where he died in 1916. ¹