Alex Rodrigues Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – After a series of failed attempts to place Brazilians in important positions in multilateral organizations (World Trade Organization, Inter-American Development Bank and Unesco), the former minister Jose Graziano was elected head of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization on Sunday. Graziano, 61, is an agronomy engineer and was the minister of Food Security and Hunger Combat in the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration. Since 2006, he has been the FAO representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In a runoff vote, Graziano defeated the former Spanish minister of Foreign Relations, Miguel Angel Moratinos by 92 to 88.

FAO was created in 1945 and has 191 nation members (some of them did not vote on Sunday). The organization’s mission is to eradicate hunger and ensure food security. For the last 17 years it has been presided over by Jacques Diouf of Senegal. Unlike Diouf, who had a mostly eventless period in office, Graziano faces a two-pronged crisis: food shortages and a spike in food prices in many parts of the world. Another problem that will land on Graziano’s desk is the controversial question of whether or not harvesting crops for fuel (ethanol) is putting pressure on food prices.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Graziano é eleito diretor-geral da FAO