Biography

          Mariano Fernández is the Ambassador of Chile in the United States who was appointed July 1st, 2006.  Preceding this appointment, he held the same position in the Embassies of Chile in Great Britain (2002-2006), Spain (2000-2002), Italy (1992-1994), and the Mission of Chile to the European Union (1990-1992). Between 1994 and 2000 he was the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs.

          Ambassador Fernández was born in Santiago, April 21, 1945.  He is married to María Angélica Morales, with whom he has three children.

          He began his services in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1967 while completing his Law degree at the Catholic University.  He joined the Foreign Service in 1969.  Between 1971 and 1974 he acted as Third Secretary in the Embassy of Chile in Germany (RFA) and between 1974 and 1982 he remained in Germany, exiled during General Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

          In the Federal Republic of Germany, Ambassador Fernandez was a journalist in diverse mediums and specialized in Method of the Social Sciences at the University of Bonn.  He was the editor of the magazine “Cooperation and Development", editor of the news agency “IPS Dritte Welt-Nachrichten-Agentur” and editor in chief of “Handbuch der Entwicklungshilfe”.

          After returning to Chile, between 1982 and 1990, he was an investigator and member of the Executive Committee of the Center of Studies for Development (CED)

          Among other activities, he has been a board member of “Radio Cooperativa,” Vice President of the Italo-Latin American Institute (IILA) and President of the European-Latin American Relation Institute (IRELA).

          He is a member of the International Academy of Wine, Political Science Association of Chile, and Honorary President of the Chilean Association of the Sommeliers.

          He has been decorated by the governments of Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Spain, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Sweden.