Alexandre de Gusmão

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Alexandre de Gusmão (Santos, 1695 - Lisbon, 1753) is regarded as one of the pioneers of Brazilian Diplomacy, chiefly for his role in negotiating the Treaty of Madrid in 1750 (revoked in 1761), when Portugal and Spain were first attempting to delimit their territorial possessions in South America. He may be considered a precursor of the application of the principles of Illuminism to international relations, adopting the principles of uti possidetis, according to which each state has the right to the land that it actually occupies, as well as the idea of "natural boundaries", which suggests the use of prominent geographical accidents – such as rivers and mountain ranges – to set the limits between states.

By means of studies submitted to the Spanish Court, Alexandre de Gusmão proved that both Portugal and Spain had surpassed the limits of the Tordesillas Line (1494), which separated both countries' possessions in America and Asia, with the Portuguese having occupied part of the Amazon region and the Center-West of the continent, through the scout work of bandeirantes explorers, while the Spanish expanded their possessions in Asia, taking the Philippines, the Marianas and the Moluccas, which were once Portuguese. Alexandre Gusmão successfully argued that the losses of one kingdom in one region had been compensated by its gains in another, and thus managed to secure for Brazil almost all of its current territory.