Dante Caputo (25 November 1943 – 20 June 2018) was an Argentine academic, diplomat and politician, who served as the nation's foreign minister under President Raúl Alfonsín. Academic activity Dante Mario Antonio Caputo was born in Buenos Aires to parents from Viggianello in the Basilicata region of Italy. He graduated in political science at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires in 1966, and subsequently completed a graduate degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Between 1968 and 1972, he held various posts at the Organization of American States, and in 1972, earned doctorate in Sociology at the University of Paris. In 1973 he was appointed as an investigator at the Torcuato di Tella Institute and for six years he headed the centre of investigations on state and administration. Caputo taught at the Universities of Buenos Aires, del Salvador, Paris, Quilmes and La Plata. Minister of Foreign Affairs (1983-1989) During the government of Raúl Alfonsín (1983–1989) Caputo served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (canciller) of Argentina and was the only minister to serve most of the President's term in office. In this position: He signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina which ended the Beagle Channel conflict, in the course of which Caputo took part in a famous television debate with Peronist Senator Vicente Saadi. He was one of the promoters of the Contadora support group, which later led to the creation of the Rio Group, for joint and multilateral action by Latin American countries in order to preserve peace and democracy in the region. He was one of the leaders of the Cartagena Group with the object of taking joint action by indebted countries towards the creditors of the foreign debt. During his period in office, accords were agreed with Uruguay and Brazil which formed the basis of Mercosur. In 1988 he presided over the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Political activity and public service Alfonsín's stand, though unpopular at the time, soon proved correct and was partly responsible for his securing the Radical Civic Union (UCR) nomination in 1983. Raúl Alfonsín was elected president on 30 October, upon which he named Dante Caputo Foreign Minister-designate. After helping shepherd the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina to ratification by voters and congress, Caputo was honored with the ceremonial post of