Federico Urruela

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Federico Urruela Prado (October 7, 1952, Guatemala City - January 31, 2004) Guatemalan diplomat and lawyer. He graduated from the Rafael Landivar University and served as examining magistrate for several years before joining the Guatemalan Foreign Service in 1977. He was named Ambassador in 1983 and had an illustrious diplomatic career with posts in Ottawa, Canada (1983-1990), Geneva, Switzerland (1990-1997) and Vienna, Austria (1997-2004). He was Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva when the Guatemalan Government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) negotiated the Peace Accords (1), brokered by the UN, to end over 30 years of armed conflict. He played a significant role in the negotiations that took place in Geneva. In Austria, he was Ambassador to Austria and also to the United Nations in Vienna, and was instrumental in strengthening ties between Guatemala and Austria, both economically and culturally. He died on January 31, 2004 and was postrhumously decorated by the Government of Guatemala in February 2004, with the Order of Antonio José de Irisarri in the Grade of the Great Cross (Orden de Antonio José de Irisarri en el Grado de Gran Cruz) (2) and in July 2004 the Austrian Government awarded him the Decoration of Honour in Gold for services to the Republic of Austria (Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) (3).