Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PARAGUAY PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

The new Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations, Eladio Loizaga, presented his credentials today to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Loizaga served as Adviser to Paraguay's Minister for Foreign Affairs.  Having entered the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1967, he held several posts in its Department of International Organizations, Treaties and Instruments before becoming Director of that department in 1981.  He was named Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983, serving in that post until 1988.  From 1989 to 1992, he acted as Representative of the Ministry to the Yacyretá Binational Agency.

He also served as Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and the World Trade Organization, in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1995 to 1998.  Other diplomatic work included posts in his country's Embassy to the United States and alternate Representative of Paraguay to the Organization of American States (OAS).

From 1989 to 1992, Mr. Loizaga served as the Private Secretary of the President of the Republic of Paraguay, with the rank of Minister of the Executive Branch.  He resigned that position in 1992 in order to run for a seat in the national Senate.

He was elected to the National Chamber of Deputies in 1989.  During his legislative tenure, he served on committees that were concerned with constitutional issues, legislation and legal codes.  He also served on the Permanent Committee of Congress during the Parliamentary Recess of 1992 to 1993.

Mr. Loizaga attended the Faculty of Law and Diplomacy of the Catholic University of Asunción, Paraguay, from 1967 to 1968, and the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the National University in that same city from 1969 to 1973.  He received his qualifications as a lawyer in 1973.

Born in Asunción on 17 March 1949, he is married and has two children.

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