Paulino José Soares de Sousa, the Viscount of Uruguai (4 October 1808 – 15 July 1866), was a
congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
, a
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, a State Councillor and a skilful
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
.
Born in Paris, he distinguished himself during the 1850s when, as Minister of Foreign Affairs for Brazil, he organized the Brazilian Diplomatic Corps and structured the entire Brazilian policy of intervention in the
River Plate against
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...
from
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and
Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...
from
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
.
A cautious diplomat, he knew how to take advantage of favourable circumstances, excluding unilateral action by Brazil and acting only at the request of the constitutional governments in the region. Success also came from his part in Franco-English involvement. He took on the financial burden incurred by France in maintaining the government of
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
and in relation to England, took steps towards the abolition of the slave traffic, creating favourable conditions for involvement by Brazil and its allies. In Paris in 1855 he negotiated the issue of Brazilian borders with
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
, which resulted in the matter being finally resolved in 1900, by the
Baron of Rio Branco.
The Viscount died in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, aged 58.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Paulino Soares De
1808 births
1866 deaths
Conservative Party (Brazil) politicians
Foreign ministers of Brazil
Finance Ministers of Brazil
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Empire of Brazil)
Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)
Presidents of the Senate of the Empire of Brazil
Brazilian monarchists
Brazilian nobility
Ministers of Justice of Brazil