Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima
Ambassador of Brazil to Italy
In office
June 16, 1999 – December 6, 2001
Nominated byFernando Henrique Cardoso
Preceded byPaulo Pires do Rio
Succeeded byAndrea Matarazzo
Ambassador of Brazil to the United States
In office
November 12, 1993 – May 26, 1999
Nominated byItamar Franco
Preceded byRubens Ricupero
Succeeded byRubens Antonio Barbosa
Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom
In office
March 16, 1990 – November 12, 1993
Nominated byFernando Collor de Mello
Preceded byCelso de Souza e Silva
Succeeded byRubens Antônio Barbosa
Personal details
Born(1933-07-08)8 July 1933
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Died12 July 2021(2021-07-12) (aged 88)
Brasília, Federal District, Brazil
Spouse
Lúcia Flecha de Lima
​
​
(m. 1963; died 2017)​
Children5
ProfessionDiplomat
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima (8 July 1933 – 12 July 2021) was a Brazilian diplomat. He was the ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy, and was also secretary general of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, before retiring in 2001, after 46 years in the diplomatic service.

His wife, Lucia, was Secretary of Tourism of the Federal District but is better known for having been a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Life

Born in Belo Horizonte, Flecha de Lima joined the Brazilian diplomatic service in 1955. Early in his career he was a member of the staff of President Juscelino Kubitschek. In 1971, he was appointed head of the government's Department of Trade Promotion.[1] He spent most of his overseas career on the "Elizabeth Arden circuit", high-status capital cities such as Rome, Paris, London, and Washington, D.C. From 1985 to 1990 he was secretary general of the Foreign Ministry in Brasília.[2]

In August 1990, Flecha de Lima was on holiday in southern France when he was commissioned to conduct negotiations on behalf of his government for the release of some five hundred Brazilians living in Iraq. Saddam Hussein had threatened to use them as human shields to prevent an attack by the United States and its allies which later became known as the Gulf War. Flecha de Lima successfully negotiated in English with Hussein Kamel al-Majid, Minister of Military Production and son in law of Saddam Hussein, and with Iraqi vice-presidents Sabri Hamadi and Taha Yassin Ramadan.

From 1990 to 1993 Flecha de Lima was Brazilian Ambassador to the United Kingdom,[3] then from 12 November 1993 to 26 May 1999 he was Ambassador to the United States, suffering a brain haemorrhage while in post. He then went to Rome for his final overseas posting as Ambassador to Italy.[4]

Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima died at the age of 88 on 12 July 2021.[5]

Personal life

Flecha de Lima met his future wife, Lucia, the daughter of a professor of medicine, while she was still at school. They married in 1960 when she was eighteen and had five children, including daughters, Isabel and Beatriz (now Beatriz Nasr).[6][7]

Honours

Notes

  1. ↑ The Washington Almanac of International Trade & Business, vol. 2 (1995), p. 11
  2. ↑ Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima at itamaraty.gov.br, accessed 16 October 2011
  3. ↑ Former Ambassadors Archived 16 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine at brazil.org.uk/embassy, accessed 16 October 2011
  4. ↑ You Can Take the Envoy Out of Washington, but... in Washington Post dated 28 May 1999, accessed 16 October 2011
  5. ↑ Nathalie Kuhl, “Morre, aos 88 anos, o embaixador Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima: Flecha foi secretário-geral do Ministério das Relações Exteriores e embaixador do Brasil em Londres, Washington e Roma”, metrolopoles.com, 12 July 2021, accessed 13 July 2021
  6. ↑ Sarah Bradford, Diana (2007), p. 425
  7. ↑ Daphne Barak, Building up confidantes in Sunday Times dated 19 March 1995, from Daphne Barak Exclusives at daphnebarak.typepad.com
  8. ↑ PAULO TARSO FLECHA DE LIMA HOMENAGEADO EM BRASÍLIA at caras.uol.com.br, accessed 16 October 2011
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