OSWALDO ARANHA (BRAZIL)
ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Mr. Oswaldo Aranha, was born in Alegrete, State of Rio Grande do Sul, in 1894, and is a Bachelor of juridical and Social Sciences.
Mr. Aranha started his public career as Mayor of his native town in 1925, and later on was elected representative in his State legislature. He was also Federal representative for the State of Rio Grande do Sul (1928), Secretary of the Interior of the same state (1928) and Acting Governor (1930) - One of the leaders of the liberal movement of 1930, Mr. Aranha was chosen Minister of justice and Interior that same year and Minister of Finance in 1931. In 1934 he was majority leader of the Constituent Assembly and a member of the Commission which prepared the draft Constitution. Toward the end of 1934 he was appointed Brazilian Ambassador to the United States, where he served until 1937. From 1938 to 1944 he was Minister for External Relations.
It was under Mr. Aranha's guidance as Minister of External Relations that Brazil took part in the first three consultative meetings of the Ministers of External Relations of the American Republics which defined Pan- policy during the early stages of the war and worked out the recorm mendation for the collective severance of diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.