NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ECUADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ECUADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

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

The new Permanent Representative of Ecuador, Diego Cordovez, today presented his credentials to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Cordovez has served as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General since 1997, including as Special Adviser on Cyprus from 1997 to 1999.

From 1992 until 1998, he was simultaneously a Diplomat in Residence at Columbia University; Special Counsel at the law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae; and President of the World Trade Center of Quito.

From 1988 to 1992, Mr. Cordovez served as Ecuador’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Between 1981 and 1988, he was the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.  During that time, he helped negotiate the Geneva Accords, which led to the Soviet Union’s withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan.  He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Mr. Cordovez wrote a book about the Afghan conflict and his United Nations mission, entitled Out of Afghanistan, which was published in 1995.  He has also authored numerous essays that have appeared in international affairs and political science journals and newspapers, and has served as President of the Andean Center for International Studies, since its establishment in 2000.

Mr. Cordovez was born in Quito, Ecuador, in 1935.  He received his law degree from the University of Chile.

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