Jorge Taiana

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Jorge Taiana

Jorge Enrique Taiana (b. 31 May 1950; married, three children) is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, currently Foreign Minister^[1] (canciller) in the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, after occupying the same post during the previous government of Néstor Kirchner. His father was Jorge Alberto Taiana, colleague of and doctor to Juan Perón.

Jorge Taiana studied sociology and was awarded a Master's Degree in Social Sciences at the Latin American Social Science Institute (FLACSO). He was a researcher at the National University of Quilmes and worked in the field of human rights, in which his expertise and prestige are widely renowned. In the 1970s, Taiana worked alongside his father in the Ministry of Education as Head of Cabinet and was a militant Peronist and founding Descamisado. Despite being threatened by the Triple A, he decided to remain in the country. He was imprisoned in 1975 and spent seven years in jail, mostly in the prison of Rawson.

Following his release, Taiana held several academic positions until he was appointed Advisor to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (1987-1989). In 1989 he joined as Undersecretary for Organizations and Special Matters. He was then appointed Undersecretary for Foreign Policy (1990), and later Director of International Organizations (1991). Between 1992 and 1995, he was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Argentine Republic to Guatemala and concurrently to Belize. After wide regional support to his candidature, he served as Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS between 1996 and 2001, and then became Secretary for Human Rights of the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires.

President Kirchner appointed Taiana as Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship in December 2005, replacing Rafael Bielsa, after having been Bielsa's Deputy since 2003. As Foreign Minister, Taiana has presided over the United Nations Security Council and to dealt with issues such as Argentina's sovereignty claim regarding the Question of the Falkland Islands, the paper mill dispute with Uruguay and the accession of Venezuela to Mercosur, among many other matters of Argentine foreign policy. He was confirmed as Foreign Minister by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on her assumption on 2007-12-10.