On September 13, the Brazil LAB kicked off its fall program with the symposium United States-Brazil: 200 Years of Diplomatic Relations. Her Excellency, Brazil’s Ambassador to the United States, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, delivered the keynote address. The event also featured the presence of Ambassador Adalnio Senna Ganem, Brazil’s Consul General in New York, and Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly. In attendance were members of the Brazilian diplomatic corps, Princeton scholars, and other members of the academic community. Miqueias Mugge and Thomas Fujiwara served as moderators.
In her remarks, Ambassador Viotti highlighted the long history of U.S.-Brazilian relations, recalling that the United States was the first country to recognize Brazil's independence in May 1824. She also emphasized the current partnerships between the two nations and addressed future challenges, including climate issues, the path to a zero-carbon economy, and the rich cultural exchanges between the two countries. Journalist and political analyst Brian Winter provided comments to Viotti’s speech.
During a lively Q&A session, attendees noted Ambassador Viotti’s pivotal role in global diplomacy, recognizing her as an inspiring figure for women aspiring to leadership in international relations. Viotti has broadened the space for female representation at the highest levels of diplomacy—she served as Chief of Staff to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres from 2016 to 2022 and is the first Brazilian diplomat to hold the position of Ambassador to the United States. The discussion also touched on multilateralism, Brazil’s assertive diplomatic stance, and the role of diplomats as intellectuals exploring new horizons, possibilities, and temporalities.
The symposium United States-Brazil: 200 Years of Diplomatic Relations resumed on the morning of September 14 with two panels titled Present Pasts and Future Horizons. In the first panel, historians José Juan Pérez-Meléndez (UC Davis), Miqueias Mugge (Princeton), and Isadora Moura Mota (Princeton) discussed the legacies of slavery, state-building policies, and frontier expansion as key points for connected and comparative studies between the two countries. The second panel featured anthropologist Lilia M. Schwarcz (University of São Paulo and Princeton), economist Juliano Assunção, and journalist Brian Winter (Americas Quarterly). They addressed cultural, artistic, economic, and political aspects in order to reflect on the next 200 years of U.S.-Brazil engagements. These discussions were moderated by Pedro Meira Monteiro (Princeton) and Benjamin Bradlow (Princeton).
The symposium was organized by the Brazil LAB of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, and co-sponsored by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the Program in Latin American Studies, the Department of Anthropology, and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Brazil’s world-renowned artists Adriana Varejão contributed with her artworks to the symposium.
