María Cecilia Nahón (born 17 May 1974) is an Argentine economist, diplomat, and politician who served as Ambassador of Argentina to the United States from 2013 to 2015. Previously, she had worked as the Secretary of International Economic Relations at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship (; abbreviated MRECIC), informally referred to as the Chancellery (), is the Argentine government ministry dealing with the foreign relations of Argentina, Argentina's foreign p ...

Career

Cecilia Nahón was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

on 17 May 1974. She graduated from the

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires (''National School of Buenos Aires'') is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, affiliated to the University of Buenos Aires. In the tradition of the European ''gymnasium'' it provides a free educatio ...

and earned a licentiate in Economics from the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

(UBA). She also holds a Master of Science in Development from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

(LSE) and a PhD in Social Sciences from the

Latin American Social Sciences Institute The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (, or FLACSO) is a graduate-only university and inter-governmental autonomous organization for Latin America dedicated to research, teaching and spreading of social sciences. Headquartered in Costa R ...

(FLACSO). Her thesis at FLACSO was ''La financiación externa y el desarrollo económico en América Latina: los casos de Argentina y México en los años noventa'' (External Financing and Economic Development in Latin America: The Cases of Argentina and Mexico in the 1990s). There she was also a teacher and researcher. Nahón is the political goddaughter of

Axel Kicillof Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires Province since 2019. Kicillof also served as Argentina's Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015 under the presidency of Crist ...

, former Minister of Economy. She is a personal friend of his and godmother of one of his children. With him she founded the university group at the UBA Faculty of Economic Sciences and the Center of Studies for Argentine Development. In addition, she is affiliated with the youth organization

La Cámpora La Cámpora is an Argentine left-wing political youth organization supporting the governments of Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Alberto Fernández. It is named after former Peronism, Peronist president Héctor José Cá ...

. Nahón was a professor at the

National University of Quilmes The National University of Quilmes (, UNQui) is an Argentine national university and the most important one in the Quilmes area. The National University of Quilmes was founded on October 23, 1989. Located in Bernal ( Quilmes County), it serves th ...

and a

CONICET The National Scientific and Technical Research Council (, CONICET) is an Argentine government agency which directs and co-ordinates most of the scientific and technical research done in universities and institutes. History The National Scient ...

scholar. She served as a strategic planning analyst for the IRSA Group. From May 2008 to 2010 she worked as Investment Strategy and Environment Manager at the National Agency for Investment Development. In 2010, she was appointed Undersecretary of Investment Development of the Argentine

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

, and in December 2011 she was appointed head of its Secretariat of Commerce and Economic Relations to replace Luis María Kreckler. During that time, she served as the delegate of Argentina in the

G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

, in charge of representation before the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

. She also acted as national coordinator of the Mercosur Common Market Group and as secretary of the board of directors of Fundación Exportar. On 17 December 2012, she was appointed ambassador of Argentina to the United States, officially presenting her credentials on 19 February 2013. She replaced

Jorge Argüello Jorge Martín Arturo Argüello (born April 20, 1956) is an Argentine politician and diplomat. Argüello served as Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations between 2007 and 2011. Argüello was also designated Ambassador of Arg ...

, who was appointed ambassador to Portugal. During her tenure as ambassador, Nahón was active in defending the Argentine position during negotiations with

vulture fund A vulture fund is a hedge fund or private-equity fund that invests in debt considered to be very weak or in default, known as distressed debt. Investors in the fund profit by buying debt at a discounted price on a secondary market and then u ...

s, continually sending letters to US congressmen and senators. She met with the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

to obtain support from the US government. She was also responsible for asking the US government for the whereabouts of and for responding to the US press in the face of criticism of Argentina's policy. She was a guest speaker at the Center for Politics and participated in Columbia University's

Initiative for Policy Dialogue The Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) is a non-profit organization based at Columbia University in the United States. IPD was founded in July 2000 by Joseph E. Stiglitz, with support of the Ford, Rockefeller, McArthur, and Mott Foundations an ...

and the

Jubilee USA Network Jubilee USA Network is a nonprofit financial reform organization based in Washington, D.C. Jubilee USA's work began in conjunction with the global Jubilee 2000 movement, founded in the late 1990s to advocate for debt relief for developing count ...

. In September 2015, she published a notice in the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' on the Argentine position on the

Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands () is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exercised '' de fa ...

. In late November 2015, Nahón announced her farewell to the Argentine embassy. She did not return to Argentina, since her husband works 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 ...

and their children go to school there. ''Chargé d'affaires'' Carlos Mascias was temporarily placed in charge of the embassy. In December 2015,

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

appointed

Martín Lousteau Martín Lousteau (born 8 December 1970) is an Argentine economist and politician of the Radical Civic Union (UCR). He is a Argentine Senate, National Senator for the Buenos Aires, City of Buenos Aires. Since 2023, he has been President of the UCR ...

to the position. She currently works as an adjunct professor at American University's

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of northw ...

where she founded their Model G20 program.

Personal life

Cecilia Nahón is married to Sergio García Gómez (who served as manager at

Aerolíneas Argentinas Aerolíneas Argentinas, formally ''Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A.'', is the state-owned flag carrier of Argentina and the country's largest airline. The airline was created in 1949, from the merger of Aeroposta Argentina (AA), Aviación del Lito ...

) and has two children. In 2014 her husband was appointed as an adviser at the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

Faculty profile
at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahon, Cecilia 1974 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Ambassadors of Argentina to the United States Academic staff of the National University of Quilmes Argentine economists 21st-century Argentine women politicians 21st-century Argentine politicians Living people Politicians from Buenos Aires Members of La Cámpora University of Buenos Aires alumni Washington College of Law faculty Argentine women ambassadors Argentine women economists