Brazil - U.S.: Perspectives for 2021 Under the New American Administration

Keynote Speaker
Amb. Nestor Forster, Jr., Ambassador of Brazil to the U.S.

Opening Remarks
Amb. José Borges dos Santos Júnior, Consul General of Brazil - Houston, Texas
Ruth R. Hughs, Texas Secretary of State

Moderator
Ulisses Sperandio, President - Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce

About:
Ambassador of Brazil to the U.S., Nestor Forster, Jr., speaks about the long time strong and friendly relations between both nations and listens to the expectations of the business community for 2021.

 Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1963, Ambassador Forster graduated from the Brazilian Diplomatic Academy (Instituto Rio Branco) in 1986. As a diplomat, he served in Canada, Costa Rica, and the United States, where he was posted three times to the Embassy in Washington, as well as to the Brazilian consulates in Hartford (CT) and New York (NY). His diplomatic experience covers areas such as trade negotiations, intellectual property, financial policy, political affairs, international law, consular affairs, administration, and information technology.

After starting his career in consular affairs, Forster was posted twice to the Office of the President of Brazil (1990-92 and 2002), having also served as chief of staff at the Office of the Attorney General. Most recently, he headed the Foreign Ministry’s Information Technology Division. Ambassador Forster has led numerous Brazilian delegations to regional and multilateral meetings.

In 2006, Nestor Forster successfully concluded his high studies dissertation on “Development Finance” at the Rio Branco diplomatic academy. He also co-authored the Official Style Guide of Brazil’s federal administration, in use for almost 30 years, and participated in the first institutionalized Brazilian presidential transition team in 2002, which resulted in the book “Transition and Democracy: institutionalizing the transferring of power.” He has also appeared as guest speaker at Columbia University, Toronto University, University of Alberta, Université Laval à Montreal, and Instituto Rio Branco.

Ambassador Forster was the Chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Brazil in Washington from June 2019 to October 2020. He is the Ambassador of Brazil to the United States of America since October 2020.