Secretary-General Appoints Carlos Ruiz Massieu of Mexico Special Representative, United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Carlos Ruiz Massieu of Mexico as his Special Representative for Colombia and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.

Mr. Ruiz Massieu will succeed Jean Arnault of France, to whom the Secretary‑General extends his deep gratitude for his exemplary service in support of peace in Colombia since 2015, initially as Delegate of the Secretary-General to the peace talks in Havana and subsequently as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia and its successor, the Verification Mission in Colombia.

With some 25 years of experience in public service as well as bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, Mr. Ruiz Massieu was most recently deeply involved in the establishment and support of United Nations peace operations.  He was also involved in United Nations reform in the areas of peace and security, development and management, as Chair, at the Under-Secretary-General level, of the General Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) since 2013, and as a member since 2011.

A distinguished career diplomat since 1999, Mr. Ruiz Massieu served as his country’s alternate representative to the Security Council from 2009 to 2010.  From 2004 to 2008, he represented Mexico in the Economic and Social Council, in the governing bodies of United Nations funds and programmes, and in the Main Committees of the General Assembly dealing with management and development issues.  He also served as Deputy Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at Mexico’s Embassy in Costa Rica, having previously held positions in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Development.

Mr. Ruiz Massieu holds a law degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and a Master’s degree in political science, with a focus on Latin American politics, from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. 

He is married and has three children.