From New Year, at least 10% of final-stage applicants for diplomatic academy must be black

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Brazil's government wants the people in its embassies to look a little more like the people in the street. So the nation with a slight black majority is giving black applicants a push at the nation's diplomatic academy.

The foreign ministry said today that from the New Year at least 10% of the 300 applicants who pass an initial stage of testing for the academy must be black.

Before entering, applicants must also pass two more tests, with no quota set.

The ministry began giving scholarships to black students eight years ago. Nearly 200 have been awarded. Sixteen of the recipients entered the diplomatic corps.