Ambassador Luis Fernando Carrera Castro (born April 19, 1966) is a Guatemalan economist, political analyst and diplomat. He served as Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

during the presidency of

Otto Perez Molina Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

. Before that, he served as the

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

, during the same administration. He is a Guatemalan economist, specializing in fiscal policies, and also a political analyst. He obtained his bachelor's degree in economics from the

National University of Costa Rica The National University of Costa Rica (in Spanish, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, abbreviated UNA) is one of five public universities in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. The main campus is located in the city of Heredia. Acc ...

in 1990. Then, he obtained an M. Phil. in Economics and Politics of Development, at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1992.

Personal History

Luis Fernando Carrera Castro was born in Guatemala City. Son of José Roberto Carrera Bonilla and Judith Castro de Carrera. His father was originally from Guatemala City, and his mother came from

Tactic Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a Departments of Guatemala, department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by Petén (department), El Petén, to the east by Izabal ...

. He began his studies in Guatemala City, but due to the political situation of the country, his father went into exile in 1971 and the rest of the family moved to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in 1975, where he finishes primary and secondary school. He finishes his undergraduate studies as Bachelor at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica in 1990, and then departs to England, to obtain his MPhil degree on Economics and Politics of Development at the

in 1992. He is married to economist Elizabeth Ugalde Miranda, Costa Rican, with whom he has two daughters, Amanda Isabel and Laura Beatriz.

Professional life

Between 1993 and 1994, he was the Research Director for the Latin American regional office of the

International Cooperative Alliance The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is a non-governmental co-operative federation or, more precisely, a co-operative union representing co-operatives and the co-operative movement worldwide. It was founded in 1895 to unite, represent an ...

, and he was a consultant in rural development programs in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, for several European NGO's. From 1994 to 2007, he worked for the

United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

(UNICEF) in different capacities, from consultant in Costa Rica and Guatemala, to Deputy Representative in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and later Representative in

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

(West Africa) and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. From 2008 to 2010, he worked as Executive Director of the Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales, ICEFI (Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies). From March 2010 until December 2011, he served as Executive Director for the Soros Foundation in Guatemala. From 2008 through 2011 Carrera wrote a weekly op-ed in elPeriódico, a Guatemalan newspaper, and his editorials were also published by different media outlets in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, Spain and the United States. His analysis and comments have also been broadcast on international TV networks, such as

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

and the Spanish Television ( TVE). He has written technical abstracts in specialized publications of the United Nations. He has also participated as a speaker in several international seminars and workshops in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, Japan,

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and the United States. During his international career, Carrera Castro collaborated in various

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

research and advocacy efforts, aiming to strengthen the capacities of government and civil society for the use of Fiscal Policy as a tool to foster human development. In this regard, he has sought to promote

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

compliance through an effective and strategic use of public budgets.

SEGEPLAN

Between 2011 and 2012, Carrera was appointed by Otto Perez Molina, President of Guatemala, as Secretary for Planning and Programming (a ministerial level cabinet appointment).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On January 14, 2013, Carrera was appointed Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs by President

Otto Pérez Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

Ambassador to the UN

On September 8, 2014, President Otto Pérez announced that Fernando Carrera was being removed from his post as Foreign Affairs Minister, and transferred to the UN, where he served as the Guatemalan Ambassador at the Permanent Mission.News on his appointment as Ambassador to the UN
/ref> Ambassador Carrera presented his credential letters to the UN Secretary General on September 19, 2014. Because of the political turmoils in Guatemala, in 2015, Ambassador Carrera requested publicly for the resignation of president Perez Molina. After manifesting it in an opinion editorial, he presented his resignation to his post at the UN on August 25, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrera, Fernando 1966 births Foreign ministers of Guatemala Permanent Representatives of Guatemala to the United Nations Living people National University of Costa Rica alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge