Juracy Montenegro Magalhães

Juracy Montenegro Magalhães came to diplomacy through the army and national politics. Born in Fortaleza in 1905, he trained at the Military School of Realengo and later at Fort Leavenworth. He governed Bahia in the 1930s, served in the 1946 Constituent Assembly and the Senate, and returned as governor in 1959. He also became the first president of Petrobras and held senior positions in other state and private enterprises. ¹

After supporting the 1964 overthrow of João Goulart, Magalhães became ambassador in Washington. He sought American support for renegotiating Brazil’s foreign debt and urged Thomas Mann to secure congressional implementation of the International Coffee Agreement. His close identification with the United States shaped both his embassy work and his subsequent direction of Brazilian foreign policy. ²

Magalhães returned as justice minister in 1965. When Congress resisted the government’s proposed emergency powers, he helped prepare the second Institutional Act, which abolished existing political parties and strengthened presidential authority. As foreign minister in 1966–1967, he advocated an inter-American military force against revolutionary movements. He also signed the Ata das Cataratas with Paraguay, establishing the principle of jointly developing the hydroelectric potential of Sete Quedas, and restored relations with Venezuela. ²

His published recollections included Minha experiência diplomática and Minhas memórias provisórias. ¹