João Augusto de Araújo Castro

João Augusto de Araújo Castro entered diplomacy in 1940 and qualified in law the following year. Early consular work in Puerto Rico, Miami, and New York led to political and multilateral assignments, including participation in the conference that established the World Health Organization. He became foreign minister under João Goulart in 1963, advancing a program centered on disarmament, development, and decolonization. ¹

After the 1964 overthrow of Goulart, Castro remained in diplomatic service, representing Brazil in Greece, Peru, and at the United Nations. As ambassador in Washington from 1971 until his death in 1975, he worked on disputes over coffee exports and Brazil’s 200 mile maritime claim while defending the military government against congressional criticism of human rights abuses. His speeches also challenged the concentration of international power in the hands of the existing great powers. ¹

In a December 1971 meeting with Henry Kissinger, alongside President Emílio Médici and Foreign Minister Mário Gibson Barboza, he asked how China’s admission to the United Nations would change world politics and where Latin America fitted into American strategy. ²