Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant-General Ajax Porto Pinheiro of Brazil Force Commander for United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Lieutenant-General Ajax Porto Pinheiro of Brazil as the Force Commander of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

Lieutenant-General Porto Pinheiro will succeed Lieutenant-General José Luiz Jaborandy Junior of Brazil, who tragically passed away on 30 August.  The Secretary-General was deeply saddened by Lieutenant-General Jaborandy’s untimely death, and reiterates his appreciation of the late Force Commander’s contribution to the work of the United Nations.

Lieutenant-General Porto Pinheiro brings to this position over 30 years of national and international military experience.  He currently serves as Vice-Chief of the General Department of Personnel of the Brazilian Army.  Prior to that, Lieutenant-General Porto Pinheiro was Director of the Military Higher Education Board from 2013 to 2015 and Commander of the Captains’ School from 2012 to 2013.  He also commanded an infantry brigade from 2010 to 2012.  Lieutenant-General Porto Pinheiro served as Commander of a battalion of the military contingent of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti in 2010, as well as a Military Observer in the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador in 1992 and in the United Nations Observer Group in Central America in 1991.

Lieutenant-General Porto Pinheiro has a master’s degree in business administration from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Born in 1956, he is married and has three children.