Diego Cordovez

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Diego Cordovez Zegers (born November 3, 1935 in Quito ; † May 24, 2014 ibid) was an Ecuadorian politician, diplomat at the UN and Foreign Minister of Ecuador from 1988 to 1992 in the government of Rodrigo Borja Cevallos .

Life

Cordovez attended the American College and the Military Academy of Ecuador in Quito, graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of Chile, and then practiced as a lawyer. Inspired by the idealism of John F. Kennedy , he joined the United Nations as assistant to Raúl Prebisch in the area of ​​Latin America. During this time the UNCTAD was formed. He became director of the United Nations Economic and Social Council . From 1981 he went on political missions to the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Libya and Cuba and as a special envoy to Iran during the hostage-taking of Tehran and to the Gulf States during the Iranian-Iraqi war . He was appointed Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs and, as a mediator, led the negotiations that led to the Geneva Agreement on the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The negotiations were regarded by many as hopeless and in 1988 the Economist called Cordovez the most patient man in the world (“the world's most patient man”). In Quito, the street on which he lived was renamed "Afganistan" and his house was given number 88. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize together with President Mikhail Gorbachev and received the Martin Luther King Award .

During the entire reign of President Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (1988-1992) he was Foreign Minister of Ecuador. After a period as "Resident Diplomat" at Columbia University in New York, he was called back to the UN service and was appointed mediator for the United Nations in Cyprus and special envoy for Venezuela.

From 2005 to 2007 he was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations.

Cordovez was married to Maria Teresa Somavia, who died in 2003, and had a son with her. In his final years he lived between New York and Quito.

Publications

  • Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal , with Selig S. Harrison, Oxford University Press, New York 1995, ISBN 978-0-19-506294-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Diego Cordovez, UN negotator who brokered Soviet exit from Afghanistan, dies at 78 , Washington Post, June 3, 2014
  2. ↑ Diego Cordovez, UN Envoy and Conflict Mediator, Dies at 78 , NYT, May 29, 2014

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cordovez, Diego
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cordovez Zegers, Diego (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ecuadorian diplomat and politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Quito
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 2014
Place of death Quito