NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ARGENTINA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
Biographical Note BIO/3034
4 September 1996
NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ARGENTINA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)
Fernando Enrique Petrella, the new Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations, presented his credentials today to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Mr. Petrella has been Argentina's Secretary of State for International Relations and Latin American Affairs and Deputy Foreign Minister since 1992. Prior to that, he served as Director for Foreign Policy and Under-Secretary for Foreign Policy from 1991 to 1992. Between 1990 and 1992, he was Director for Spain and Italy as well as for Western Europe.
From 1985 to 1989 Mr. Petrella served as Deputy Chief of Argentina's Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) and Alternate Representative to the Permanent Council and the General Assembly of the OAS. In 1984, he was the Acting Director for International Organizations, a position he occupied after being a delegate to the Rio de la Plata Administrative Commission from 1982 to 1984. He also served as Chief of Cabinet and Under-Secretary for External Affairs in 1982. From that post, he went on to become, in 1983, Director for North America and a representative to the Ministerial Meeting of the "Group of 77" developing countries held in Buenos Aires.
Mr. Petrella joined the Argentine foreign service in 1964 and its Legal Office in 1965, where he worked until 1970. He was a member of his country's Permanent Mission to the United Nations from 1970 to 1977, and served in the Security Council (1971-1972) and the General Assembly (1970-1979). He was also a delegate to the 1975 United Nations Women's Conference, in Mexico City, and the 1976 Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, in Colombo. Between 1977 and 1981, he served in various capacities in the Foreign Ministry and attended the 1983 United Nations Conference of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries held in Buenos Aires.
Between 1981 and 1995, he led Argentina's delegations to meetings of several United Nations bodies, including the World Food Council and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and to high-level gatherings, including the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the "Rio Group" held in Brasilia in 1994, and the OAS General Assembly held in Port-au-Prince, in 1995.
Mr. Petrella holds a Master's degree in International Public Politics from Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Buenos Aires. His academic activities included lecturing on Diplomatic Law and on History of International Relations at the Foreign Service Institute, in Buenos Aires.
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