Professional Affiliation

Foreign Affairs Minister, Government of Guatemala

Expert Bio

Luis Fernando Carrera Castro was appointed as Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on January 14, 2013.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the agency which is responsible for formulating policies and implementing legal framework for relations between other entities, individuals, or states.  Previously Minister Castro served as the official Secretary of Planning and Programming.  He is a Guatemalan economist specializing in fiscal policy and political analysis. 

From 1993 until 1994 Secretary Carrera was the director of research at the Latin America Regional Office of International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), and a consultant for rural development programs in El Salvador and Nicaragua for European non-governmental organizations.  Between 1994 and 2007, Carrera Castro held a number of positions with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ultimately serving as the organization’s Adjunct Representative in Ecuador, and eventually as its Representative in Cape Verde and Panama.  Following his tenure at UNICEF, Carrera served as the Executive Director of the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI) and later as the Executive Director of the Soros Foundation in Guatemala.

Secretary Carrera Castro publishes a weekly column in El Periódico (Guatemala) with his editorials having appeared in diverse media outlets throughout Central America, Spain, and the United States. His analyses and commentaries have appeared on several international TV media networks, including CNN, Al Jazeera, and TVE.  

He received a B.A. in economics from the National University of Costa Rica and an M.A. in economics and development politics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.