Secretary-General Appoints Karla Gabriela Samayoa Recari of Guatemala Deputy Special Representative for Colombia

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Karla Gabriela Samayoa Recari of Guatemala as his Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.

Ms. Samayoa Recari succeeds Jessica Faieta of Ecuador, to whom the Secretary-General extends his deep gratitude for her exemplary leadership and dedication.

Serving as Guatemala’s Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Organizations based in Rome since 2018, Ms. Samayoa Recari brings to the position over 20 years of experience in diplomacy, including in United Nations contexts, where she focused on peace and security, humanitarian and management issues.

From 2015 to 2018, she served as Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Guatemala in Austria and as Deputy Head of Mission at her country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna.  She previously served as Director General of International Bilateral Relations within Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry from 2013 to 2015; as Director General for Security Council Affairs from 2012 to 2013; and in various capacities at the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations in New York from 2000 to 2009, including as a delegate to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

Ms. Samayoa Recari holds a degree in communication sciences from the Rafael Landívar University, Guatemala.