Carlos Gianelli Derois began his second stint as Uruguay’s ambassador to the United States on Aug. 3, 2015.  Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on March 7, 1948, Gianelli received a doctorate in law and social studies (1964-1975) at the Law and Social Studies School in Montevideo (Universidad de la República), and a master’s in social studies, specializing in regional development of the Bariloche Foundation (Rio Negro, Argentina). He also graduated from the Artigas Institute of the Foreign Service of Uruguay (IASE).

Gianelli joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1976 as a third secretary. He worked at the Economic-Integration Department (March-December 1978) and became head of the International Economic Organizations Department (1986-1987).

From 1986 to 1987, he was deputy director of International Organizations Department, becoming counselor at the Uruguayan Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1987 to 1990. Gianelli served as the Uruguayan alternate representative to the United Nations from 1990 to 1991, and was vice president at the Second Commission of the General Assembly in 1990.

He was Ambassador of Uruguay to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, concurrent ambassador in Oman, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait (September 1991-April 1993), director of the Artigas Institute of the Foreign Service (IASE) (April 1993-August 1993), and director general for Political Affairs (September 1993-September 1995).

In 1994, he was the Uruguayan representative to the Rio Group association of Latin American countries (now known as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) during the same period and a negotiator in the process of the First Summit of the Americas in Miami, Florida, before becoming ambassador to Mexico and concurrent ambassador to the Bahamas. From September 1995 to July 2000, Gianelli was head of the Uruguayan delegation within three working groups of the Free Trade Area of the Americas: investments (Costa Rica); intellectual property; and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (Mexico and Miami).

In August 2000, he became director general of International Economic Affairs and Coordinator of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Mexico. He was named ambassador to the Netherlands in August 2003, and permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On July 11, 2005, Gianelli was named ambassador to the United States for the first time. He served in Washington until July 2012, when Carlos Pita replaced him.

In 2006, he was designated as one of the two agents of Uruguay to the International Court of Justice in the case of Argentina v. Uruguay, involving a dispute between those countries over the building of pulp mills on the Uruguay River.

Among Gianelli’s duties between stints in Washington was advising his government when it was sued by tobacco giant Philip Morris for its anti-smoking measures.

Gianelli speaks Spanish, English, Italian and French.

-Rujuta Gandhi