Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, Foreign Minister under Rousseff, will be Brazil’s new ambassador to Spain

Eduardo González Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, former Foreign Minister during Dilma Rousseff's presidency, has been appointed to the position of Brazilian ambassador to Spain, replacing Orlando Leite Ribeiro. According to the Foreign Ministry's Office last May, the Spanish government has already given its approval to Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado. In accordance with the Constitution, the appointment of the new ambassador must be submitted to the Federal Senate for decision. The request has already been processed, and the vote will take place in the coming days, according to the Senate. The new ambassador, born in Rio de Janeiro and who will turn seventy next July, was Brazil's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2013) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from August 2013 to December 2014. During his year in Dilma Rousseff's administration, Figueiredo Machado engaged in a bitter diplomatic confrontation with the Israeli government after issuing a statement in July 2014 in which he described the "escalation of violence" in the Gaza Strip as "unacceptable" and recalled the Brazilian ambassador to Israel. In its response, Israel called Brazil a "diplomatic dwarf." After leaving the Ministry, Figueiredo Machado served as Brazil's ambassador to the United States (2015-2016), Portugal (2016-2019), and Qatar (2019-2023). Until now, he held the position of Ambassador Extraordinary for Climate Change. Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado replaces Orlando Leite Ribeiro, who held the Embassy in Madrid since April 2022. Leite Ribeiro also had a prominent political profile, having served as State Secretary for Trade and International Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture until his arrival in Spain. On June 19, Orlando Leite Ribeiro participated in the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Spain-Brazil Council Foundation, where he met with the State Secretary for Ibero-America, the Caribbean, and the Caribbean, Susana Sumelzo, and where he was the subject of a farewell ceremony. During the meeting, attendees highlighted the connection achieved between the Embassy and the Council Foundation through various coordinated actions.

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