Ambassador of Guatemala
Gladys Maritza Ruiz de Vielman (born August 30, 1945)[1] is a Guatemalan attorney, diplomat and politician who served as Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 27 January 1994 to 17 July 1995 under the government of Ramiro de León Carpio.[2] She worked as a lawyer and law school lecturer and represented Guatemala as the Ambassador to the United States[2] and also served as the Ambassador of Guatemala to the Netherlands.[3]
Education
Ruiz de Vielman received her law degree from the Rafael Landivar University in 1973 where she specialized in international, commercial and family law.[1] She studied abroad in the United States, Brazil and France.[2] Her first language is Spanish and she also speaks English, Portuguese, and French.[2]
Career
Law
After graduating from law school, Ruiz de Vielman started her own law firm.[2] Her firm's most frequent clients were the Guatemalan government as well as the Guatemalan private sector.[2] She has worked as a lawyer on behalf of a number of other Latin American countries in hearings before the World Trade Organization over trade disputes.[3]
Diplomacy
Ruiz de Vielman's diplomatic career began in 1986.[2] She has served as permanent representative of Guatemala to the International Coffee Organization, International Sugar Organization, and the International Maritime Organization.[2] She is accredited by the International Court of Justice, an accreditation she earned after representing Guatemala in a case against Belize concerning territorial rights.[3]
After holding the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs (1994-1995), Ruiz de Vielman served as the Ambassador for Guatemala in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland from 2000 to 2003.[2] She was then appointed to represent Guatemala as the country’s Ambassador to the United States from 2016 to 2017.[2] Her appointment, which came after the position had been vacant for over six months, broke barriers as she was the first woman to represent Guatemala in the United States.[4] After her time in the United States, she was appointed to be Guatemala’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. [2]
References