NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF COSTA RICA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG

Luis Alberto Varela Quiros, the new Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Prior to his appointment in Geneva, Mr. Varela Quiros had been teaching international law at the Escuela Libre de Derecho University in Costa Rica while also acting as an adviser to the President of Costa Rica on international matters.

Mr. Varela Quiros served as the Ambassador of Costa Rica to Colombia from 1998 to 2000. He also has an extensive background relating to the United Nations. He was a Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission for the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities from 1989 to 1992. He was a member of the Sub-Commission from 1988 to 1991. He served as a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Working Group on forced and involuntary disappearances from 1982 to 1989.

After joining the Ministry Foreign Affairs in 1972 and working as a protocol attache until 1978, Mr. Varela Quiros served as an advisor for the Ministry on matters related to the United Nations from 1973 to 1994. He was a Costa Rican delegate to the General Assembly during eight consecutive sessions from 1972 to 1979, and represented his country at the Sixth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1981. He was also the Alternate Costa Rican Representative to the United Nations from 1978 to 1981, and represented his country at the Commission on Human Rights at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 1980 to 1982.

Mr. Varela Quiros is the author of a number of articles specializing in international law and a book on the same subject. He has taught international law at several universities in Costa Rica since 1974. He was Vice-Dean of the University of Costa Rica Law School from 1994 to 1996, and Director of the Foreign Services Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1992. He is married and has two children.