Diogo Freitas do Amaral

Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (b. Póvoa de Varzim, 21 July 1941) is a Portuguese politician and law professor, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 12 March 2005.

In 1974, some months after the Carnation Revolution, he was one of the founders of the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), now the People's Party, a right-wing party with close (albeit unofficial) ties to the Roman Catholic Church. He led this party till 1985, and again from 1988 to 1991. He served as a member of the Assembly of the Republic from 1975 to 1983, and again in 1992 and 1993.

In the parliamentary elections of 1979 and 1980, the Democratic Alliance (of which the CDS was a part) won a majority and formed the government, in which Freitas served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1980 and 1981. After the death of Francisco Sá Carneiro, Freitas do Amaral was interim Prime Minister for a short period.

He was a candidate for the presidency in the 1986 presidential election. Supported by his own People's Party and by the Social Democratic Party, he established a commanding lead in the first round, but lost the second round by some 150,000 votes to Mário Soares, who was endorsed by the three eliminated candidates.

He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1995.

A European federalist, he left the party he founded, disagreeing mainly with the Eurosceptic line followed by Manuel Monteiro and Paulo Portas.

Always seen as a right-winger, Freitas do Amaral supported the Social Democratic Party in the parliamentary election of 2002. However, disappointed with the government performance, and critical of its support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Freitas do Amaral surprised many observers by announcing his support for the Socialist Party in the 2005 election. He was subsequently nominated for Minister of Foreign Affairs of the XVII Constitutional Government, led by the Socialist leader José Sócrates.

He has authored a biography of King Alfonso I. He is married to the writer Maria Roma.

Note: in Portuguese, this politician is known as either Freitas do Amaral or simply Freitas, never Amaral.