Heraldo Muñoz

Infobox Person
name=Heraldo Muñoz


caption=
birth_date=Birth date and age|1948|7|22|mf=y
dead=alive
birth_place=Santiago, Chile
death_date=
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Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela (b. July 22, 1948) is a Chilean politician and diplomat; and the current Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations.

Muñoz was born in Santiago. In 1973, under the Salvador Allende government, he served as National Supervisor of the People's Stores (Almacenes del Pueblo) until the coup d'etat of September 11, 1973. He holds a Ph.D. from Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, Colorado (1978), a Diploma in International Relations from the Catholic University of Chile (1975, graduated with honors), and also took courses at Harvard University. He received a B.A. with a major in Political Science at the State University of New York, Oswego. Recipient of the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver (1991), he was bestowed with the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the State University of New York (1996). He has received fellowships from: Resources for the Future, the Ford Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, the Twentieth Century Fund, and the MacArthur Foundation. He was a Ph.D. fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. (1977). He later taught at the University of Chile's Institute of International Studies.

He co-founded the Party for Democracy (PPD) and participated in the executive committee of the campaign to vote "no" on a second term for Augusto Pinochet during the 1988 plesbicite. During the administration of Patricio Aylwin, Muñoz was made permanent representative for Chile to the Organization of American States, (1990-1994) and ambassador to Brazil (1994-1998) during the government of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. At the start of the administration of Ricardo Lagos, Muñoz was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations until January of 2002, when he was designated Minister Secretary General of Government, a position from which he exercised considerable influence over policy, advising Lagos. He left the ministry in 2003, after being appointed Chile's ambassador to the United Nations, permanent representative, the position which he holds today.

Chile was elected a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council for 2003 and 2004, while Muñoz served as ambassador. Muñoz was chairman of a special UN committee on al Qaeda sanctions, during which he noted a reluctance by many countries to cooperate in reporting names and information to the committee and in acting on information received by the committee. He was troubled by al Qaeda's continued ability to circumvent sanctions, which he said "need more teeth". ["U.N.: Al Qaeda sanctions failing" CNN, November 12, 2003] In January 2004, Muñoz served as the President of the Security Council.

Notes

References

* [http://www.un.int/chile/Biogr/biomunozengl.htm United Nations biography]
* [http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/chile_3292.jsp openDemocracy article and interview]
* [http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/412/33/PDF/N0441233.pdf?OpenElement Assessment of the President of the Security Council for the month of January 2004 (Muñoz's term)]