The announcement of Ambassador Julio Bitelli as the chosen one to be Brazil’s ambassador to Argentina generated frustration among part of the Itamaraty diplomats, who hoped to place a woman in the position.
“A frustration, a disappointment,” he told Sheet Ambassador Irene Vida Gala, president of the Association of Brazilian Women Diplomats. “Since we couldn’t get a female chancellor, there was the expectation of having ambassadors in the two main posts of Brazilian diplomacy, Washington and Buenos Aires.”
Maria Luiza Viotti, who was Brazil’s representative at the UN and chief of staff to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, is expected to be the Brazilian ambassador to the US. As for Buenos Aires, ambassador Gisela Padovan, who will assume the Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eugênia Barthelmess, now ambassador in Singapore and former director for South America at Itamaraty, were quoted.
Bitelli was ambassador to Colombia, Tunisia and today heads the representation in Morocco. Previously, he was Mauro Vieira’s chief of staff in his first term as chancellor (2015-16) and served at the Brazilian Mission to the UN and at the embassies in Montevideo, Washington, Buenos Aires and La Paz.
“We had highly qualified women for the position. Bitelli is equally qualified to assume the position in Buenos Aires, but it is not just a question of competence, it is necessary to consider representativeness”, says Gala. “The appointment of a man is disheartening, as it keeps us in the position of eternal aspirants.”
There was pressure from women diplomats and sectors of the PT to choose a chancellor, something unprecedented, but Vieira ended up being chosen. Placing ambassadors at the head of crucial diplomatic representations for Brazil would meet the Chancellor’s promises to increase the number of women in leadership positions. Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha was named secretary general of the Itamaraty, the second highest position in the ministry’s hierarchy – the first time that a woman has held the position.
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