Duarte da Ponte Ribeiro, 1st Baron of Ponte Ribeiro (Viseu; March 4, 1795 – Rio de Janeiro; September 1, 1878) was a Portuguese-Brazilian physician, diplomat and cartographer.

[1] Born in Portugal, son of surgeon José da Costa Quiroga da Ponte Ribeiro and Ana Ribeiro, he arrived to Brazil in 1807.

He later served as a diplomat in Lisbon, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and Buenos Aires until the Platine War, where he played an important role.

Between 1836 and 1841, he became the Empire's representative to the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, with which he negotiated a draft trade treaty, an opportunity in which he employed the thesis of Uti possidetis de facto.

[1][2][3] Although the treaty was rejected by the General Assembly, the doctrine became a principle in Brazil's boundary negotiations,[4] when it was adopted as a guideline by the baron of Rio Branco.