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New ACS
Secretary General and High Level Officials Elected
Port of Spain (28.01.08) – Ministers of Foreign
Affairs and other officials from the 28 Member and Associate
Member States of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
met in Panama on January 25 2008 for the 13th Ordinary
Meeting of the Ministerial Council to discuss a broad
agenda, including the nomination and appointment of high
level officials at the Secretariat.
After deliberations, the Council unanimously elected the
Guatemalan diplomat Luis Fernando Andrade Falla as the
fourth ACS Secretary General. Andrade Falla succeeds Dr
Rubén Silié, whose four-year term ends at the beginning of
March 2008.
Mr Andrade Falla is an experienced career diplomat and his
academic achievements include degrees in Economics and
International Relations. A month ago, he was Vice Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala and Representative of the
President pro tempore of the Commission on Security of the
Central American Integration System (SICA). Previously Mr
Andrade Falla served as the Chargé d’Affaires and Minister
Cousellor of Guatemala in Cuba.
Apart from Mr. Andrade Falla’s nomination, the Council
appointed Ms Gloria de Mees of Suriname as Director of
Sustainable Tourism. Ms de Mees has worked with the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Suriname since 1998 and is currently
the First Secretary at its Embassy in Port of Spain,
Trinidad. She is the holder of degrees in Law and
International Relations.
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Furthermore, the Ministerial Council appointed Ms Ariadna
Gioconda Pérez of the Republic of Panama as Director of
Trade Development and External Economic Relations. With a
background in Law and Political Science, Ms Gioconda Pérez
is currently the Legal Advisor for the National Assembly of
Parliamentarians in Panama and has performed other advisory
roles in the areas of public finance, planning and economic
policy, public health and social security.
In his address after this nomination and appointments, the
outgoing Secretary General, Dr Rubén Silié, declared that
the ACS is entering in a new cycle as described in the New
Vision of the ACS, articulated at the 4th Summit of the Head
of Government and State in 2005.
In this context, he called upon the ACS Membership to “move
away from any differences that can exist among us and act
positively in order to consolidate a complete and regional
vision of development in the Greater Caribbean, constantly
deepening political dialogues that would strengthen mutual
trust and joint action in the international scenario.”
