Secretary-General Appoints Rear Admiral Guillermo Pablo Ríos of Argentina Mission Head, Chief Military Observer, UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Rear Admiral Guillermo Pablo Ríos of Argentina as Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

Rear Admiral Ríos succeeds Major General José Eladio Alcaín of Uruguay, who will shortly complete his assignment.  The Secretary-General is grateful to Major General Alcaín for his contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts.

Rear Admiral Ríos has had a distinguished career in the Argentinean Navy since 1988, when he graduated from the Naval Academy as Middleshipman.  Most recently, he served as the General Director of Education, Training and Doctrine of the Joint Staff (2022).  Prior to this, he was Marines Infantry Commander (Corps Commander) (2020-2021); Marines Infantry Fleet Commander (Brigade Commander) (2019); Education Department Chief, Navy Warfare School (2018); and Defence, Military, Naval and Air Attaché in the Russian Federation (2016-2018).  He was a Training Officer in a United States Marine Corps Regiment under a United States and Argentine Marines Exchange Programme (2002-2003).

Rear Admiral Guillermo Ríos has served in two peacekeeping operations, including the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1993 and 1994 and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in 2007.  He has also served as a Humanitarian Demining Supervisor with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Angola (1997-1998).

Rear Admiral Ríos speaks fluent English and basic Portuguese and Russian.  He holds postgraduate degrees from the Naval University Institute and E-Salud University in Argentina.