Francisco Carlos Bustillo Bonasso (born April 1, 1960) is a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay from July 6, 2020 to November 1, 2023. Bustillo entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay by merit competition on January 1, 1986. He has held several positions in Montevideo and abroad, such as the Director of Institutional Affairs and Bilateral Economic Affairs of the Ministry. He was also named Ambassador of Uruguay to Spain in October, 2012.

Career

Diplomatic positions

On April 1, 2005, he was appointed by President Tabaré Vázquez as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uruguay in

Argentine Republic Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, a position he held for 5 years. In 2010, President José Mujica replaced him with Guillermo Pomi. And on October 2, 2012, he appointed Bustillo as Ambassador of Uruguay to Spain.

Political positions

In late June 2020, it was confirmed that Bustillo would replace

Ernesto Talvi Ernesto Talvi Pérez (born June 10, 1957 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan economist. He served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay from 1 March to 6 July 2020. Early life Born to a Macedonian-born father and a Cuban mother, both of Sephar ...

as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay, who presented his resignation, stating "It has been a privilege to serve the citizens of Uruguay from the Foreign Ministry at this time in which it was necessary to face extremely complex challenges". Finally, on July 1, it was confirmed that Bustillo would take office on Monday, July 6. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs is Carolina Ache Batlle. In September 2020, UN Watch exposed Uruguay’s vote for a UN resolution that singled out Israel alone in the world for supposedly violating women’s rights. Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo declared that his country’s UN vote against Israel was a “circumstantial error,” and removed the foreign ministry’s director-general of political affairs, Ambassador Pablo Sader, and that Uruguay’s “foreign policy will keep its historical stance to defend the rights of Israel.”

Resignation

On 1 November 2023, Bustillo resigned as foreign minister after audio messages were published in which he appeared to ask former deputy Foreign Minister Carolina Ache to not hand over her phone to investigators to prevent access to conversations Ache had with another official relating to the granting of a passport to Sebastian Marset, whom the latter official called a “dangerous” drug trafficker, while he was detained in the United Arab Emirates in 2021.

References

1960 births Living people Uruguayan diplomats Ambassadors of Uruguay to Ecuador Ambassadors of Uruguay to Argentina Ambassadors of Uruguay to Spain Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Ministers of foreign relations of Uruguay Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic {{Uruguay-diplomat-stub