- Mexican diplomat Carlos Ruiz Massieu has been appointed by the UN Secretary-General as Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC).
The Foreign Ministry reports that the UN Secretary-General has appointed Mexican diplomat Carlos Gabriel Ruiz Massieu Aguirre to succeed Jean Arnault of France as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.
Mr. Ruiz Massieu holds a law degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana and a master's degree in political science from the University of Essex, United Kingdom. He joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1999 and has held both bilateral and multilateral diplomatic posts.
Since 2013, he has chaired the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), one of the most influential bodies of the United Nations, of which he has been a member since 2011.
The UN Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC) was established in 2017 to verify the reintegration into political, economic and social life of former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), in compliance with the peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC-EP. Currently, the UNVMC is composed of a total of 115 observers and police, including eight Mexican military observers (six men and two women), as well as a Mexican police officer.