New Permanent Representative of Mexico Presents Credentials

Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez, the new Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Upon his appointment, Mr. de la Fuente was Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he also directed the global studies programme and previously served as rector.  He also chaired the Board of the Aspen Institute in Mexico.

Mr. de la Fuente was his country’s Minister for Health from 1994 to 1999.  In 1998, he was elected to chair the board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).  Involved with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2004, Mr. de la Fuente was nominated to chair the United Nations University Council in 2010.  He has also advised United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) projects dealing with violence in Latin America.

A graduate of National Autonomous University’s medical faculty, Mr. de la Fuente trained in psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in the United States.  The author or co-author of more than 300 scientific papers and 21 books, he holds several honorary doctorates and awards, including Mexico’s National Prize for the Sciences and the Arts.

Mr. de la Fuente has a public hospital in Mexico City named after him, as well as the newly discovered cactus plant opuntia delafuentiana.