A Geografia como fator das vitórias diplomáticas do Barão do Rio Branco

Resumo

In this article, Virgílio Corrêa Filho, technical assistant of the National Council of Geography, explains the Baron of Rio Branco's diplomatic victories due to his profound knowledge of Brazilian geography.

            He intensified his geographical studies while in the Brazilian Liverpool consulate. Thus he was well able to defend Brazilian interests when he received the nomination of plenipotentiary to the American Government which was arbitrating the Brazil-Argentine dispute about the Palmas Territory (popularly called "Missões").

            The court's decision identified the Pepire-Guaçu rivers and its tributary, mentioned in the 1750 Boundary Treaty between Portugal and Spain. Rio Branco's geographic argumentation proved that Brazil had full right to the contested land.