 Cardoso is also a member of The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues.In August 2009, he travelled to Israel and the West Bank as the head of an Elders delegation that also included Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu.In 2013 he became a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.