Mauricio Montalvo Samaniego

Mauricio Montalvo Samaniego (born June 26, 1961) is serving as the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs since 24 May 2021. He has an LLM from Harvard. He has served as ambassador to the UN in Geneva, in the Ecuadorian Mission to OAS, among others.

Biographical review
In his university years, he became a Student Representative to the Academic Council of PUCE (1983) and President of the PUCE Law School Association (1984).

Later, he graduated as Doctor of Jurisprudence (1986), Lawyer (1986) and Bachelor of Legal Sciences (1984) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE).

He holds a Master's Degree in Law (LL.M.) from Harvard University (1990) where he was a classmate of President Barack Obama.

Additionally, he has a Diploma in Public Administration from the National School of Administration (ENA) in Paris, France (2004).

He has been Professor at the Faculty of Jurisprudence of PUCE, the School of International Sciences of the Central University of Ecuador, the College of Jurisprudence of USFQ, the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the University of Las Américas (UDLA) and visiting professor at the School of Law of the University of Puerto Rico, in San Juan. Lecturer at IAEN, FLACSO, Universidad Andina, Academia de Guerra, Escuela Superior de Policia, among others. He has published several specialized articles on legal and international issues.

He has held various diplomatic functions. For example, in the Permanent Missions to OAS in Washington DC, to the UN in New York and to UNESCO in Paris, France. Moreover, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland and served as Ambassador of Ecuador in Australia, with concurrence to New Zealand and [Fiji] before being named Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs by President Guillermo Lasso. He has held various diplomatic missions. For example, in the Permanent Mission to OAS in Washington DC, to the UN in New York and to UNESCO in Paris, France. Moreover, he was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland and served as the Ambassador of Ecuador to Australia, with concurrence to New Zealand and Fiji until May, 2021.

Distinctions

 * Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit of Chile
 * Cavalieri of the Order of Solidarity of Italy

Charges and duties

 * Undersecretary of International Organizations
 * Director General of Communication
 * Director General of Multilateral Policy
 * General Director of Border Relations with Colombia
 * Secretary of the Advisory Board
 * General Coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
 * General Summit Coordinator
 * Multilateral Undersecretary
 * Legal Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic
 * Advisor to the Minister of Finance
 * World Bank Consultant
 * General Undersecretary of Public Administration
 * Dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the University of Las Américas (UDLA)

Published work
He is co-author of the book "El camino a la integración desde la identidad: Una aproximación suramericana" with the Ecuadorian political scientist Bernardo Gortaire Morejón. In this book, the authors study the importance of identity in the construction of stronger and more successful regional integration processes.