Check Availability

Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz is the Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations and Chairman of the UN Peace-Building Commission. He was President of the UN Security Council in January 2004 and was also Chairman of the Al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council during 2003 and 2004. In 2006-2008 he served as facilitator and Vice Chairman of the General Assembly Task Force on Security Council reform. In February 2009 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed him Chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, M. Benazir Bhutto.

Muñoz was Minister Secretary-General (2002-2003) and Deputy Foreign Minister (2000-2002) with the administration of President Ricardo Lagos. He was also Ambassador of Chile to Brazil (1994-1998) and Ambassador of Chile to the Organization of American States (1990-1994). During the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990) he held leadership positions in the dissident movement, in the Socialist Party of Chile and was a co-founder of the Party for Democracy (PPD). He integrated the Executive Committee of the "NO campaign" that defeated Pinochet in the 1988 plebiscite.

In 2001 he was one of the negotiators of the Doha Round of trade talks of the World Trade Organization, heading the environment and trade group. He was also the Chief negotiator of the free trade agreement between Chile and the European Union. During 1998-2000 Ambassador Muñoz was President of The Economist Conferences in Chile.

Ambassador Muñoz holds a Ph. D in International Studies from the University of Denver; a Diploma in International Relations from the Catholic University of Chile (with honors); and a B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York, Oswego. He has been a visiting professor or lecturer at universities in the United States, Europe and Latin America, having written or edited several books and essays in journals such as Foreign Policy, The Journal of Democracy, and The Latin American Research Review. His opinion pieces have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, Folha de Sao Paulo, Le Monde Diplomatique and others.

His book A Solitary War chronicles the Iraq War and UN Security Council debates (Fulcrum Publishing). His most recent book, The Dictator's Shadow: Life Under Augusto Pinochet (Basic Books, September 2008) has received high acclaim in, among others, Foreign Affairs, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and The Washington Post (which listed it among the best books of 2008).

Check Availability | + Add to Wishlist | Login to email this