| Héctor Timerman | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Relations | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office June 18, 2010 |
|
| President | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
| Preceded by | Jorge Taiana |
| Argentine Ambassador to the United States | |
| In office December 10, 2007 – June 18, 2010 |
|
| President | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
| Preceded by | José Octavio Bordón |
| Succeeded by | Alfredo Chiaradía |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 16, 1953 Buenos Aires |
| Nationality | Argentina |
| Spouse(s) | Annabella Selecki |
| Religion | Judaism |
Héctor Marcos Timerman (born December 16, 1953) is an Argentine journalist, sociologist, political and human rights activist, diplomat, and current Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations.[1]
Timerman was born in Buenos Aires to Risha and Jacobo Timerman. The latter became a prominent member of the Argentine Jewish community following his establishment of numerous news publications, notably Primera Plana and Confirmado news magazines, and the La Opinión newsdaily, all of which became among the most successful periodicals in Buenos Aires during the 1960s and '70s. The younger Timerman entered journalism, and married Anabella Selecki, an architect, with whom he had two daughters.
He was named editor-in-chief of La Tarde in 1976, and steered the daily in support of the newly installed dictatorship. His father's April 15, 1977, kidnapping prompted Héctor Timerman to become active in the defense of human rights, however, and in 1978, was exiled in New York, where, in 1981, he co-founded Americas Watch, the western hemisphere chapter of Human Rights Watch. He later served in the board of directors of the Fund for Free Expression, a press freedom advocacy group based in London.
Timerman earned a master's degree in international relations at Columbia University in 1981, and wrote extensively as a columnist for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and The Nation. Returning to Argentina in 1989, he founded two news magazines, Tres Puntos and Debate, and became a regular contributor to Noticias and Ámbito Financiero. He also hosted a television news interview program, Diálogos con Opinión. Timerman was an early adherent to Congresswoman Elisa Carrió's center-left ARI. Following elections in 2003, however, he became a close supporter of President Néstor Kirchner.
Timerman remained active in human rights advocacy. He served as a director of the Buenos Aires office of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights from 2002 to 2004, and was President of the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience. Timerman was the first witness to give testimony in the trial of Christian von Wernich, a former Buenos Aires Province Police chaplain convicted of complicity in numerous dictatorship-era murders and tortures (including that of his father).
President Kirchner appointed Timerman Consul General in New York in July 2004, and in December 2007, he was named Argentine Ambassador to the United States. Differences between President Cristina Kirchner and Foreign Relations Minister Jorge Taiana, and an incident in which she called his loyalty into question reportedly led to Taiana's June 18, 2010 resignation;[2] his replacement by Héctor Timerman was announced the same day.[3]
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