Uruguayan career diplomat, internationalist with a trade and economic background, has been: - Ambassador in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, European Common Market,
Germany, Japan, and the United States of America, and concurrent Ambassador in India and Thailand. - Permanent Representative to GATT, the River Plate Basin Treaty, the Organisation of American States, the Latin American Free Trade Association, and the United Nations Organisations in Geneva . - Delegate or Head Delegate to numerous international conferences covering varied subject matter ( United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Labour Organisation, UNCTAD, UNESCO, Organisation of American States, Latin American Free Trade Association, River Plate Basin, Economic Commission of the United Nations for Latin America and the Caribbean, Inter-American Development Bank, Group of 77, Latin American Economic System, Food and Agriculture Organisation, Non-Aligned Nations, UN Economic Commission for Africa, etc.). - Negotiator in the establishment of GATT, UNCTAD, Inter-American Development Bank, River Plate Basin Treaty, World Trade Organisation (particularly, the WTO Agreement and the Dispute Settlement Understanding, which he presided), and Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries. - President of Commissions of Enquiry of the Organisation of American States, Vice-President of the Council of the Organisation of American States, President of the Latin American Free-Trade Association, President of the Board of UNCTAD, President of the Council and also of the Contracting Parties of GATT, President of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation. - Member of the United Nations Committee for Development Planning. - Deputy Director of the Trade and Balance of Payments Division of the United Nations. - Director of the UNCTAD Division on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries. - Frequent Consultant with a number of inter-governmental organisations ( InterAmerican Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, etc.). - Deputy Executive Secretary of GATT at its inception. - Minister of Industry and Trade of Uruguay. - Candidate for the Uruguayan National Council of Government and subsequently for the Vice Presidency of Uruguay. - President of the Board of Manufactura Norte S.A. (wool processing firm). - Founder and President of the Board of Pesquerías Belnova S.A. (high-seas fisheries enterprise). - First Chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation, where he served the maximum period of two terms. - President of many dispute settlement panels in GATT and WTO, and member of
NAFTA Tribunal. - President of the Uruguayan National Chamber of Commerce and Services. - Appointed Arbitrator by Mexico in terms of Article 2009 of the NAFTA Treaty and by Chile according to the agreements signed under the Montevideo Treaty. - Author of several books on international economic matters, and has edited or contributed to a large number of other books on trade dispute settlement. - Frequent lecturer and participant in academic conferences and seminars on overall economic and political issues, and on the settlement of trade disputes. - Lecturer at the International Faculty for Comparative Law (Strasbourg), ORT University in Montevideo, and Artigas Foreign Service Institute in Montevideo. - Decorated by the Governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Germany. - Medal of the Uruguayan Foreign Service.
- Rotary Club River Plate Award for 2003. - President of the Uruguay XXI Century Foundation. - President of the professional Uruguayan Football Association. - President of the Veterans Tennis Club of Uruguay Presently: - Member of the Uruguayan Academy of the Economy - Corresponding Member of the Argentine Academy for Moral and Political Sciences. Honorary Advisor to the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry. - Chamber Member of the Uruguayan National Chamber of Commerce and Services. - Member of the Council and of the Group of International Arbitrators of the Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration, International Arbitration Court for Mercosur, Montevideo. - Expert under Art.43 of the Olivos Protocol for the settlement of disputes in Mercosur. - Member of the Founding Executive Council for a Society of International Economic Law - Member of the WTO Institutional Reform Project.

Law, Foreign Policy,