María Fernanda Espinosa
| María Fernanda Espinosa | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Espinosa in 2017 | |
| President of the United Nations General Assembly | |
|
Assumed office 18 September 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Miroslav Lajčák |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office 24 May 2017 – 11 June 2018 | |
| President | Lenín Moreno |
| Preceded by | Guillaume Long |
| Succeeded by | José Valencia |
|
In office 15 January 2007 – 7 December 2007 | |
| President | Rafael Correa |
| Preceded by | Francisco Carrión |
| Succeeded by | María Isabel Salvador |
| Minister of National Defense | |
|
In office 28 November 2012 – 23 September 2014 | |
| President | Rafael Correa |
| Preceded by | Miguel Carvajal |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Cordero Cueva |
| Coordinating Minister of Heritage | |
|
In office 19 October 2009 – 28 November 2012 | |
| President | Rafael Correa |
| Preceded by | Alex Rivas |
| Succeeded by | María Belén Moncayo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 7, 1964 Salamanca, Spain |
| Political party | PAIS Alliance |
| Spouse(s) | Eduardo Mangas |
| Alma mater |
Facultad Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Rutgers University |
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (born September 7, 1964)[1] is an Ecuadorian politician and diplomat. She is the current President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 73rd session[2], office which started in September 2018. She was Minister of National Defense of Ecuador from 28 November 2012 to 23 September 2014.[3] Currently, she is serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Lenín Moreno. She also held several other Ministerial posts before. She served as the Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in Geneva from October 2014 to May 2017, and held the same position from 2008 to 2009. Besides her political career she is also a poet and essayist.
Personal life
Espinosa was born 7 September 1964 in Salamanca, Spain during a stay of her parents in the city. She is fluent in French and English and has working knowledge of Portuguese. She has interests in poetry and ecology. She studied at Lycée La Condamine and graduated in the early 1980s.[4]
Education
Espinosa holds a Doctor of Philosophy in environmental geography from Rutgers University in the United States, where she was also a post-doctoral Fellow in 1996–1997. [5] Espinosa has a master's degree in Social Science and Amazonic Studies. She also has a postgraduate degree in Anthropology and Political Science from the Facultad Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales in Quito and a licentiate in Applied Linguistics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. In addition to that, she won the "First National Poetry Prize of Ecuador" in 1990.[6]
Political career
Under President Rafael Correa, Espinosa was Minister for Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Integration from January 2007 to December 2007. She was then Special Adviser to the President of the Constituent Assembly, Alberto Acosta from December 2007 to February 2008 before being appointed as Ecuador's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She presented her credentials as Permanent Representative on March 7, 2008.[1] From October 2009 till November 2012 she was Coordinating Minister of Heritage.[7]
In November 2012 she got the post of Minister of National Defense as incumbent Minister Miguel Carvajal stepped down to run for the National Assembly elections of 2013. She is the third female to lead the Ministry of National Defense after Guadalupe Larriva and Lorena Escudero.[8] In March 2013 some controversy arose after television channel Ecuavisa reported there was unrest in the military concerning the promotion of certain colonels to generals. President Correa ordered Espinosa to take legal action against Ecuavisa, saying that the information Ecuavisa possessed was false. On 18 March 2013 Ecuavisa apologized and confirmed that basic verification procedures had not been followed.[9] She resigned as Minister on 23 September 2014.[10]
In October 2014 Espinosa was named Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in Geneva. She succeeded Luis Gallegos.[11] In her capacity as Permanent Representative she defended the case of Julian Assange in a discussion on arbitrary detention in September 2016.[12]
On 24 May 2017 Espinosa was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of President Lenín Moreno.[13]
Espinosa is a member of the World Future Council.[14]
References
- 1 2 "NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ECUADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS", United Nations Press Release, BIO/3968, March 7, 2008.
- ↑ https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/06/1011431
- ↑ Maria Fernanda Espinosa new Defense Minister Archived 2013-04-13 at Archive.is on Ecuador Times, 28 November 2012
- ↑ (in Spanish) Poesía y ecología, dos pasiones de María Espinosa on El Universo, 7 January 2007
- ↑ https://www.un.org/press/en/2008/bio3968.doc.htm
- ↑ (in Spanish) Hoja de Vida Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine. on Ministry of National Defense of Ecuador
- ↑ (in Spanish) Maria Fernanda Espinosa es la nueva Ministra Coordinadora de Patrimonio Archived 2013-04-12 at Archive.is on 19 October 2009
- ↑ (in Spanish) Maria Fernanda Espninosa es la nueva Ministra de Defensa on 28 November 2012
- ↑ Ecuavisa apologizes to the armed forces for misinformation Archived 2013-04-13 at Archive.is on Ecuador Times, 19 March 2013
- ↑ "María Fernanda Espinosa renunció al Ministerio de Defensa" (in Spanish). El Comercio. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ↑ "María Fernanda Espinosa is the new Ambassador of Ecuador before the UN in Geneva". Andes. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ↑ "María Fernanda Espinosa aboga por Assange ante la ONU" (in Spanish). El Comercio. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ↑ "María Fernanda Espinosa fue posesionada como Canciller del Ecuador". Cancilleria.gob.ec. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017.
- ↑ Counciller Biographies on World Future Council
External links
| Positions in intergovernmental organisations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Miroslav Lajčák |
President of the United Nations General Assembly 2018–present |
Incumbent |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Luis Gallegos |
Ecuador Ambassador to United Nations in Geneva 2014–2017 |
Succeeded by Guillaume Long |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Francisco Carrión |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 2007–2007 |
Succeeded by María Isabel Salvador |
| Preceded by Alex Rivas |
Coordinating Minister of Heritage 2009–2012 |
Succeeded by María Belén Moncayo |
| Preceded by Sandra Vela Dávila |
Minister of Sports 2011–2011 |
Succeeded by José Francisco Cevallos |
| Preceded by Miguel Carvajal |
Minister of National Defense 2012–2014 |
Succeeded by Fernando Cordero Cueva |
| Preceded by Guillaume Long |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 2017–2018 |
Succeeded by José Valencia |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ricardo Patiño |
Second Vice President of the PAIS Alliance 2017–2018 |
Succeeded by Ricardo Zambrano |
Authority control  |
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