New Permanent Representative of Colombia Presents Credentials

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations, Guillermo Fernandez de Soto Valderrama, presented his credentials to UN Secretary‑General António Guterres today.

Before his latest appointment, Mr. Fernandez de Soto was based in Madrid, Spain, between 2012 and 2018 as Corporate Director for Europe at Corporacion Andina de Fomento, the Development Bank of Latin America.

From 2011 to 2012, he served as President of the Inter‑American Judicial Committee of the Organization of American States, having previously been President of Colombia’s Council on International Relations.  Mr. Fernandez de Soto was Ambassador to the Netherlands from 2004 to 2008, as well as Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until 2002.

The holder of a law degree, a doctorate in legal and economic sciences and a post‑graduate degree in socioeconomic sciences, Mr. Fernandez de Soto earned them all from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia.