Consulate General of Brazil
Consulate General of Brazil to the United States 🇧🇷
Location: 225 E 41st St #1, New York, NY 10017
The Brazilian consulate general is located at 220 East 42nd Street in Turtle Bay on Manhattan’s East Side. It resides in the Daily News Building, an Art Deco style skyscraper that was constructed between 1928 and 1930. The skyscraper was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978 and a New York City landmark in 1981. There, we got the chance to interview Deputy Consul and Head of Culture and Education at the Consulate, Thiago Oliveira. Mr. Oliveira has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 12 years starting with the Brazilian Diplomatic Academy in Brasília, the country’s capital. He has also worked at the Brazilian Embassy in Lebanon, Beirut before joining the Consulate in New York. He has been at the Brazilian Consulate in New York for 10 months. The consulate is large, spanning multiple floors of the Daily News Building. There are currently 8 diplomatic staff,numerous expats, and local workers. The consulate is one of the largest Brazilian consulates or embassies anywhere in the world.
The Brazilian consulate provides all consular services but also does much more to support the Brazilian community in New York City and the greater northeast region. Mr. Oliveira related to us the idea of generational consulates. While first-generation consulates only deal with traditionally “consular” matters like filing paperwork and approving visas, second-generation consulates like the Brazilian consulate in New York have a vested interest in growing their affiliated diasporia communities. The Brazilian consulate aids the local Brazilian community by ensuring welfare, expanding business connections, and transmitting culture and language. Mr. Oliveira also talked about third-generation consulates, which almost act fully as sovereign territory like the Vienna convention suggests. Through them, citizens of the affiliated country can enact political change back home and are also affected by policies back home on a material level.
The Brazilian community in the northeast is separated into many areas. There is a significant community in Queens as well as in places like Newark, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. These communities throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania number about 500,000 total people of Brazilian descent. Many of these communities grew during the 1980s due to political and economic challenges in Brazil, and an influx of immigration These communities contain all strata of the Brazilian population from entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses in North America to working class laborers pursuing the American Dream.
During our conversation, Mr. Oliviera made it clear that the Brazilian consulate took great pride in their support of women’s rights. The current Consul-General in New York is a woman and has enacted policies aimed at aiding Brazilian women under the consulate’s jurisdiction. One of its main priorities is making sure that women immigrating from Brazil are not forced to become housewives and can instead transfer their education and skills from Brazil to pursue careers independent of their families. In addition, the consulate is deeply focused on combating the issue of domestic violence in the Brazilian community. There are several women-only affinity spaces within the consulate where these topics can be brought up to consulate workers confidentially.
The consulate continues to support the growth of Brazilian culture in New York City through music and art. Besides aiding individuals, they also sponsor and host numerous concerts and art exhibitions throughout the year. Some of these exhibitions are even presented within the Daily News building itself. Currently, the consulate is sponsoring 5 Times Brazil, an exhibition at the New Museum in SoHo, Brazilian Summerfest, and a free concert during Central Park SummerStage on July 17th. They also support restaurants and publishers looking to release Brazilian literature in North America.
Being the two largest and powerful nations on the American continent, Brazil and the United States have enjoyed good relations. The United States became the first country to recognize Brazil in 1824 and the two countries have since been partners. The US was a large contributor to Brazil’s industrialization in the 1930s, and the two democracies have been invested in spreading liberal values throughout the world.
We would like to thank Mr. Oliveira and the consulate staff for accommodating us and encourage you all to consider visiting the beautiful country of Brazil or attending any of the consulate’s sponsored events in the future!
