Cristián Barros Melet (born 9 October 1952) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

an diplomat who was the

Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations The role of the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations is as the leader of the Chilean delegation to the United Nations in New York and as head of the Permanent Mission of Chile to the UN. The position has the rank ...

in New York since 16 April 2014 to 2018. He also served as Ambassador to India (2010–14), Italy (2008–10), Peru (2006–08), United Kingdom (2000–02) and Denmark (1993–96). He also served as Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs (2002–06) in the government of

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and Social democracy, social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Mil ...

Biography

Born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

, Barros was educated at

Saint Gabriel's School Saint Gabriel’s School caters for some 2000 pupils aged 4–18 and offering courses to IGCSE The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based examination similar to GCSE and is recognised in ...

. After graduating from Law at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in Santiago, Barros also attended the Andrés Bello Diplomatic Academy in 1973. In 1974 he entered the Foreign Service Consular Directorate. From 1978 he served in the Administration Office of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

until 1979. In 1979 he took his first diplomatic posting as Deputy Consul in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...

. In 1980 he was posted as consul in

Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Par ...

, Argentina. Between 1983 and 1985 he worked in the American Division of the Department of Bilateral Policy. In 1985 he was appointed Chile's Consul-General in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

until 1988. From 1989 to 1990 he was First Secretary in the Embassy of Chile in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, when he became Chief of Staff to the Director General of Foreign Policy. In 1991 he was appointed as Director of Personnel and between 1992 and 1993 served as Chief Administrative Officer of the Ministry. In 1993 he was appointed as Ambassador to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, serving until 1996. From 1996 to 1998 he was Administrative Director of the Ministry and from 1998 to 1999 took over as Director General of Foreign Policy. From 2000 to 2002 he was Ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, with accreditation to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In 2002 he was appointed by President

as Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, serving until 2006. From 2006 to 2008 he served as Ambassador to Peru and from 2008 to 2010 was ambassador to Italy, with accreditation to Malta. While in Italy he also sat as Chile's Permanent Representative to the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, with accreditation to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. In 2014, Barros was appointed to succeed

Octavio Errázuriz Octavio Errázuriz Guilisasti is a Chilean lawyer and diplomat. He is the former ambassador of Chile to the United Nations and the current ambassador to the Holy See. Early life and education He studied law at the University of Chile, and later ...

as Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations and presented his credentials to Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

on 16 April 2014. Barros was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

in January 2015.

Honours

1993: Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of Portugal The Order of Merit ( pt, Ordem do Mérito) is a Portuguese Honorific Order of civil merit intended to award those responsible for meritorious acts or services performed in the exercise of any functions, both in the public and the private sphere, w ...

. *

1996: Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

(Denmark). * ARG Order of May - Grand Cross BAR

1998: Grand Cross of the Order of May (Argentina). * National Order of Merit - Grand Cross (Brazil) - ribbon bar

1999: Grand Cross of the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC O ...

(Brazil). * PER Order of the Sun of Peru - Grand Cross BAR

1999: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru. * Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Knight Grand Cross

2003: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

(Netherlands). * ESP Isabella Catholic Order GC

2004: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

(Spain). * ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Cross BAR

2004: Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin (Argentina). * Ordre de l'Ouissam Alaouite GO ribbon (Maroc)

2004: Grand Officer of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

(Morocco). * ROK Order of Service Merit 1st Class

2005: Member (1st Class) of the Order of Service Merit (Korea) * PAN Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa - Grand Cross BAR

2006: Grand Cross of the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Panama).

External links

References