Ovídio Manuel Barbosa Pequeno

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Ovídio Manuel Barbosa Pequeno (born 5 November 1954) is a São Toméan diplomat, currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He became the Ambassador of São Tomé and Príncipe to the Republic of China (Taiwan) in December 1999, serving in that position until he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs[1] on 30 March 2004. He remained Foreign Minister until 16 January 2006, when he resigned due to controversy about the spending of aid money (almost half a million U.S. dollars) from Morocco. Pequeno denied taking any of the money for himself and said that it had been given directly to the president, Fradique de Menezes, and that he had accordingly spent it on the president's behalf. Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira had demanded his resignation,[2] and Pequeno was accused of disloyalty to the government by spending the money in secret and without the government's authorization.[3] Menezes argued in Pequeno's defense that the spending was legitimate.[2]

Following his resignation, he was appointed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States, Canada and Brazil.[1] He presented his credentials as Ambassador to the US on 10 March 2006,[4] as Permanent Representative to the UN on 27 April 2006,[1] and became Ambassador to Canada on 6 June 2006.[5]

In the government appointed on November 20, 2007, Barbosa Pequeno was again named Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Carlos Gustavo dos Anjos.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SÃO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS", United Nations Press Release BIO/3761, 27 April 2006.
  2. ^ a b "Foreign minister resigns over diversion of foreign aid", IRIN, January 18, 2006.
  3. ^ "Sao Tome's government says FM disloyal to cabinet in foreign aid", Xinhua, January 10, 2006.
  4. ^ "Diplomatic List: Order of Precedence and Date of Presentation of Credentials", U.S. Department of State, 27 July 2007.
  5. ^ Order of Precedence of Ambassadors to Canada.
  6. ^ "Le président santoméen remanie le gouvernement", Panapress (afriquenligne.fr), November 21, 2007 (French).
Preceded by
Óscar Sousa		 Foreign Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe
2004–2006		 Succeeded by
Óscar Sousa
Preceded by
Carlos Gustavo dos Anjos		 Foreign Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe
2007–present		 Succeeded by
incumbent
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