Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant General Elias Rodrigues Martins Filho of Brazil Force Commander for Democratic Republic of Congo Stabilization Mission

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Elias Rodrigues Martins Filho of Brazil as Force Commander of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).  He succeeds Lieutenant General Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi of South Africa, who completed his assignment on 31 January, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated leadership as head of the MONUSCO military component.

Lieutenant General Martins Filho has had a distinguished military career with the Brazilian Armed Forces spanning more than 35 years.  He is currently serving as the Chief of Office of the International Organizations Office at the Ministry of Defence of Brazil since 2017.  Previously, he served as Chief of Defence Intelligence in the Intelligence Office of the Ministry of Defence, and as Director of the Brazilian Command, War and Staff College, from 2015 to 2016.  Between 2013 and 2015, he was Chief of Operations at the Brazilian Western Border, having been Commanding Officer of the Brazilian Presidential Guard battalion between 2009 and 2011.

Lieutenant General Martins Filho also has extensive peacekeeping experience, having served as Planning Officer in the Force Generation Service in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations from 2005 to 2008.  He also served as Deputy Military Adviser to the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations, between 2001 and 2003, and as Staff Officer at the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III from 1995 to 1996.

Lieutenant General Martins Filho holds a post-graduate degree in International Relations from the University of Brasilia.  He graduated from the Defense War College of the Escola Superior de Guerra.

Born in Fortaleza in 1960, he is married and has three children.