Ambassador Luis Fernando Carrera Castro (born April 19, 1966) is a Guatemalan economist, political analyst and diplomat. He served as Permanent Representative of Guatemala to 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 ...

during the presidency of Otto Perez Molina. Before that, he served as the

Minister for Foreign Affairs 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 ...

, during the same administration. He is a Guatemalan economist, specializing in fiscal policies, and also a political analyst. He obtained his bachelor's degree in economics from the

National University of Costa Rica The National University of Costa Rica (in Spanish, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, abbreviated UNA) is one of five public universities in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. The main campus is located in the city of Heredia. Acc ...

in 1990. Then, he obtained an M. Phil. in Economics and Politics of Development, at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1992.

Personal History

Luis Fernando Carrera Castro was born in Guatemala City. Son of José Roberto Carrera Bonilla and Judith Castro de Carrera. His father was originally from Guatemala City, and his mother came from

Tactic Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tacti ...

Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and ...

. He began his studies in Guatemala City, but due to the political situation of the country, his father went into exile in 1971 and the rest of the family moved to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in 1975, where he finishes primary and secondary school. He finishes his undergraduate studies as Bachelor at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica in 1990, and then departs to England, to obtain his MPhil degree on Economics and Politics of Development at the

in 1992. He is married to economist Elizabeth Ugalde Miranda, Costa Rican, with whom he has two daughters, Amanda Isabel and Laura Beatriz.

Professional life

Between 1993 and 1994, he was the Research Director for the Latin American regional office of the

International Cooperative Alliance The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), established in 1895, is a non-governmental organization dedicated to uniting, representing, and supporting Cooperative, cooperatives around the world. It is the guardian of the internationally recogn ...

, and he was a consultant in rural development programs in

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, for several European NGO's. From 1994 to 2007, he worked for the

United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to childre ...

(UNICEF) in different capacities, from consultant in Costa Rica and Guatemala, to Deputy Representative in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, and later Representative in

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

(West Africa) and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. From 2008 to 2010, he worked as Executive Director of the Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales, ICEFI (Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies). From March 2010 until December 2011, he served as Executive Director for the Soros Foundation in Guatemala. From 2008 through 2011 Carrera wrote a weekly op-ed in elPeriódico, a Guatemalan newspaper, and his editorials were also published by different media outlets in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, Spain and the United States. His analysis and comments have also been broadcast on international TV networks, such as

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Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

and the Spanish Television ( TVE). He has written technical abstracts in specialized publications of the United Nations. He has also participated as a speaker in several international seminars and workshops in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Japan,

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and the United States. During his international career, Carrera Castro collaborated in various

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

research and advocacy efforts, aiming to strengthen the capacities of government and civil society for the use of Fiscal Policy as a tool to foster human development. In this regard, he has sought to promote

Human Rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

compliance through an effective and strategic use of public budgets.

SEGEPLAN

Between 2011 and 2012, Carrera was appointed by Otto Perez Molina, President of Guatemala, as Secretary for Planning and Programming (a ministerial level cabinet appointment).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On January 14, 2013, Carrera was appointed Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs by President Otto Pérez.

Ambassador to the UN

On September 8, 2014, President Otto Pérez announced that Fernando Carrera was being removed from his post as Foreign Affairs Minister, and transferred to the UN, where he served as the Guatemalan Ambassador at the Permanent Mission.News on his appointment as Ambassador to the UN
/ref> Ambassador Carrera presented his credential letters to the UN Secretary General on September 19, 2014. Because of the political turmoils in Guatemala, in 2015, Ambassador Carrera requested publicly for the resignation of president Perez Molina. After manifesting it in an opinion editorial, he presented his resignation to his post at the UN on August 25, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrera, Fernando 1966 births Ministers of foreign affairs of Guatemala Permanent representatives of Guatemala to the United Nations Living people National University of Costa Rica alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge