The speaker served as Mexico’s Ambassador to the Republic of South Korea from 1989 to 1993, where his responsibilities included, among other things, securing South Korea’s support for Mexico’s accession to APEC and facilitating the first state visit by a South Korean president to Mexico (and Latin America). He served as Mexico’s Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa from 1994 to 1998, when Nelson Mandela was elected president of that country. He served as concurrent Ambassador to five other countries in southern Africa and as Mexico’s Permanent Observer to the Southern African Development Community ( SADC). He has carried out various diplomatic missions and led official Mexican delegations to several international conferences and organizations. He directly advised President Vicente Fox during his visits to China and Korea and at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002, where he served as Deputy Head of the Mexican Delegation. He served as Advisor to the President of the Republic and General Coordinator of the Mexican Food System (1977–1982) and as Undersecretary for Environmental Development and Regulation at the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (2000–2003).