Javier Juan Vicente Ramón González Olaechea Franco (born 13 December 1958) is a

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

political scientist and politician who served as minister of Foreign Relations in the presidency of Dina Boluarte from 2023 to 2024. Formed in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and of a diplomatic background stemming from his family, González Olaechea gained national profile as he confronted the body of the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

in his capacity of Peru's foreign minister in the aftermath of the contentious

2024 Venezuelan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 28 July 2024 to choose a President of Venezuela, president for a six-year term beginning on 10 January 2025. The election was contentious, with international monitors calling it neither Free and ...

, a process that was marked by political repression from the Maduro administration against the opposition, in addition to the allegations of fraud as the results are yet to be verified. A member of the centre-right Christian People's Party, González Olaechea announced his bid for

President of Peru The president of Peru (), officially the constitutional president of the Republic of Peru (), is the head of state and head of government of Peru. The president is the head of the executive branch and is the supreme head of the Peruvian Armed ...

at the 2026 general election following his tenure as government minister.

Career

González Olaechea has served as an advisor to four entities of the

Peruvian government The Republic of Peru is a unitary state with a multi-party semi-presidential system. The current government was established by the 1993 Constitution of Peru. The government is composed of three branches, being executive, judicial, and legisla ...

: the Office of the Prime Minister, and the ministries of Labour and Promotion of Employment, Interior, and Energy and Mines. Internationally, he served as regional director of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

for

Mercosur The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...

while residing in

, in addition to holding a variety of positions in the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Throughout his career, González Olaechea has taken a variety of academic positions, serving as a professor at the

National University of San Marcos The National University of San Marcos (, UNMSM) is a public university, public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established (Privilege (legal ethics), privilege by Charles V, ...

and the

University of Lima The University of Lima (; ; ) is a private nonprofit university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1962. The decision to create the University of Lima was made in the early 1960s by a group of university professors, along with commerce and indu ...

, in addition to teaching at the Diplomatic Academy of Peru and the Center for Higher National Studies. At the

1995 Peruvian general election 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, González Olaechea ran unsuccessfully for the

Peruvian Congress The Congress of the Republic of Peru () is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, the President of Peru can be removed by Congress without cause, ...

under

Union for Peru Union for Peru () is a Peruvian political party founded by Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, an ex-United Nations, UN Secretary General, in 1994 to run for the presidency of Peru in the 1995 Peruvian general election, 1995 general elections. Originally a ...

, the political party founded by

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( , ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime min ...

to compete against

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

’s first reelection campaign. González Olaechea has also served as an opinion columnist for '' El Comercio'' and ''International Press''.

Minister of foreign relations (2023-2024)

On 7 November 2023, González Olaechea was appointed and sworn in by President

Dina Boluarte Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra (; born 31 May 1962) is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer who has been serving as the 64th president of Peru since 2022. She had served as the Vice President of Peru, first vice president and minister ...

, as minister of Foreign Relations of Peru, succeeding Ana Cecilia Gervasi in the position following her departure after failing to secure a bilateral meeting between Boluarte and U.S. president

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. Into his tenure as foreign minister, González Olaechea gained notoriety as he publicly rebuked the Canadian ambassador to Peru, Louis Marcotte, who had criticized a Peruvian bill that allegedly harmed the economic financing of non-governmental development organizations, for which González Olaechea reacted in condemnation of a letter signed by sixteen diplomatic missions concerning the issue as foreign intromission of national affairs. Members of the

from multiple parties supported González Olaechea's stance against the alleged external interference from foreign representatives. On 31 July 2024, at the

Special Assembly held in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, González-Olaechea intervened pointing out an “identity crisis” that the organization may suffer if the diplomatic body did not assume a clear and defined position concerning the

, stressing that the Venezuelan elections had serious irregularities and were "fraudulent from the start", reminding the body that opposition leader

María Corina Machado María Corina Machado Parisca (born 7 October 1967) is a Venezuelan politician and industrial engineer who is currently Venezuelan opposition, opposition leader in Venezuela. She served as an elected member of the National Assembly of Venezuela ...

had been eliminated from the race prior to the election, that the electoral board had not even revealed the official vote tally, and that his defense was "not ideological but of principle". The speech was widely acclaimed by the

Venezuelan opposition This article describes the history of Venezuelan opposition to the Chavismo, Chavista governments of former President Hugo Chávez and current President Nicolás Maduro. Commonly referred to as the Venezuelan opposition, or sometimes, anti-Chavis ...

and regional leaders that condemned the results and refused to accept Venezuelan President

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

unverified victory; on the other hand, criticism arouse surrounding the decorum of his intervention from a diplomatic perspective. González Olaechea served in the position until 3 September 2024, as President Boluarte reshuffled her cabinet. He was replaced by career diplomat

Elmer Schialer Elmer José Germán Gonzalo Schialer Salcedo (born 10 January 1960) is a Peruvian diplomat and professor who has served as Minister of Foreign Relations since 2024. Early life and education Schialer was born on 10 January 1960 in Guatemala Cit ...

2026 presidential run

Following Boluarte's cabinet reshuffle, it was revealed that González Olaechea registered in the Christian People's Party - PPC during his time as foreign minister before 12 July 2024, which was the deadline to register in a political party in order to run at the 2026 general election, hinting at a potential run. Subsequently, González Olaechea announced his bid for the Peruvian presidency in November 2024, confirming the speculation surrounding his recent partisan registration.

Electoral history

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:González Olaechea, Javier 1958 births Living people Politicians from Lima Christian People's Party (Peru) politicians Foreign ministers of Peru Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina alumni University of Belgrano alumni