NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF HONDURAS PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF HONDURAS PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

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

Manuel Acosta Bonilla, the new Permanent Representative of Honduras, presented his credentials today to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Acosta Bonilla was Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Central American Parliament, having been a member of that Parliament since 1991 and twice having served as its First Vice-Chairman.

From 1990 to 1994, he was the Minister/Adviser to the President of Honduras and National Coordinator of the State Modernization Programme.  He served as Minister of Finance and Public Credit from 1972 to 1975 and as Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance from 1965 to 1971.

From 1964 to 1965, Mr. Acosta Bonilla was Chairman of the National Electoral Council, and from 1954 to 1956, he was the Director-General for Welfare and Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.  He was head of international relations of the Honduran Civil Aviation Authority from 1953 to 1954.

Among other civic positions, Mr. Acosta Bonilla has also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Fundación Iras Ulargui youth scholarship and children's home and National Law Academy of Honduras.  In addition, he has been the legal adviser to many firms in the private sector and has authored, and co-authored, publications on diverse subjects in economics, business and human rights.

Mr. Acosta Bonilla graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Mexico in 1952 and is a specialist in aeronautical law, certified by the Universidad Autónoma de Honduras.  He was authorized by the Supreme Court of Justice to practise as a notary and lawyer in 1954 and has had further training in law, economics and political studies.

Born in 1929 in El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras, Mr. Acosta Bonilla is married and has four children.

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