- Inocencio Arias
Inocencio F. Arias, also known as Chencho (born
April 20 1940 inAlbox , Almería province), is a multifarious Spanishdiplomat , currently posted asconsul general in Los Angeles,California ,United States .Career
His previous assignment was as
Permanent Representative of Spain to theUnited Nations inNew York City . In the Security Council he presided the Antiterrorism Committee of the United Nations. Previously, he served asState Secretary forInternational cooperation and for Ibero-American Affairs (1991-93) and as Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-91) [ [http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_1012_en.htm] Biography in the EUROPA website] .In the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Arias was Director of the Diplomatic Information Office andspokesman of the Department with quite different democratic administrations: center, 1980-82; socialist, 1985-88; and center-right, 1996-97. During his diplomatic career, he served inBolivia ,Algeria andPortugal .He participated in several international conferences: the
Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro 1992);European Council s (1986, 87, 88, 96);NATO summit (Madrid, 1997);Middle East Summit (Madrid 1991) andNon-Aligned Movement Summit (Jakarta 1992); Iberoamerican Summits (Mexico City 1991, Madrid 1992, Bahia 1993,Santiago, Chile 1996).He has been a member of the Spanish Delegation to the 36th, 37th, 40th-43rd, and 51st-57th sessions of the
United Nations General Assembly .Non-diplomatic experience
Arias, who holds a degree in Law and joined the diplomatic service in 1967, also has a considerable experience outside the diplomatic world. He was General Director of the football Club
Real Madrid (1993-95). He also has experienced the academic field, having been professor ofInternational Relations at theComplutense University and at the University Carlos III, both inMadrid . Mr. Arias is the author of several books, papers and contributions, among others, on political issues and international relations. His latest title, "Confesiones de un diplomatico" (Publisher: Planeta), is about the leading up to the Irak invasion inside the U.N. Security Council interspersed with U.S. famous historic events as well as the entertainment industry and U.S. pastimes viewed from a Spanish/European perspective. In addition, Mr. Arias authored a book about three famous football stars ("Los Tres Mitos del Real Madrid"): Di Stéfano, Butragueño and Raúl; and edited a multilingual international soccer dictionary during the Football World Cup hosted by Spain in 1982.Controversy about the Invasion of Iraq in 2003
Arias made the headlines in
August 2003 , when he was recalled from New York with immediate effect, despite the fact that he was officially on holiday. The mainstream media seemed to agree [ http://www.typicallyspanish.com/archive/030811.html Arias asked to cut his holidays short for questioning Iraq's invasion] stating "it's no secret that the Spanish government is unhappy with comments made by Arias" who said that "if weapons of mass destruction were not found in Iraq, the justification of the decision to go to war would be undermined". The government said, however, that the ambassador returned for 'professional reasons' [ http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/armtwist/2003/0815arias.htm UN Envoy Recalled by Spain in Iraq Row (Global Policy Forum) ] .References
External websites
* [http://www.mae.es/Consulados/LosAngeles/en/Home/ FA Ministry] Spanish consulate in Los Angeles
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