Jorge Ramón Hernández Alcerro

Ambassador of Honduras

Overview of Professional Experience

Doctor Hernández-Alcerro has thirty five years of experience in the academic field and public service, both in his native Honduras and internationally. He has served as professor in public law, career ambassador, international judge and Central America's representative in international development institutions, member of the National Constituent Assembly that drafted the Honduran Constitution, four times elected congressman, and appointed as a member of the Cabinet. He has worked in both the private and public banking sectors and is an entrepreneur.

Education

• University of Nice, France
  Institut du Droit de la Paix et du Développement
  Doctorat de Specialité en Coopération International (Doctorate in International Cooperation Law) Cum Laude, 1975
• Institut Européen des Hautes Études Internationales, Nice, France
  Diplôme des Hautes Études Internationales (Degree in Advanced International Studies) with honors, 1973
• Honduras National Autonomous University
  School of Judicial and Social Sciences
  Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales (Bachelor of Arts in Judicial and Social Sciences) with honors, 1972

Current Position

• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Honduras to the United States of America

Previous Positions

• Judge at the Central American Court of Justice, Managua, Nicaragua, 2007
• Secretary of Justice and the Interior, 2002-2005
• Congressman; elected to the National Constituent Assembly in 1980, which was tasked with writing the Constitution, and to the National Congress in 1982, 2001, and 2005
• Presidential Campaign Image and Message Director, 1999-2001
• Executive Director of the Honduran Business Council for Sustainable Development, 1998-1999
• Executive Vice-President and Executive President of the Honduran private bank, "Banco del País", 1996-1998
• Executive Director for Central America, Belize and Haiti, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C., 1993-1996
• Vice-President of the Central Bank of Honduras, 1992-1993
• Ambassador to the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 1988-1992
• Co-Agent to the International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands, 1987-1988
• Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, 1987-1988
• Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, San José, Costa Rica, 1985-1987
• Chief of Staff to three Foreign Affairs Ministers, 1976-1978; 1982-1986; 1986-1987
• Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlans
• Head of Delegation to the Central American Peace Negotiations of Contadora, 1982-1987
• Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1978-1979
• General Coordinator of the National Frontier and Sovereignty Commission, 1975-1976
  
• Professor of Constitutional Law, International Law and Central American Law at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, School of Law, Public Law Department. 1975-1987

Overview of Other Professional Experiences

Doctor Hernández-Alcerro is well knowned lecturer and panelist to innumerable local and national public and private institutions in Honduras. In the United States, he has been invited by academic institutions such as Harvard University's Harvard Forum on Hispanic Affairs, University of Vermont's International Studies Program, and University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute for International Studies. He has been a frequent radio and TV analyst in Honduras and has had a weekly column in two of the country's main newspapers, La Prensa and La Tribuna, on subjects of national and international interest. He served as a member of the Editorial Board of Diario La Prensa of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

As a Congressman he had different legislative initiatives. He is recognized as one of the main writers of the Constitution of Honduras and has drafted, actively promoted and participated in the issuance of important legislation such as: the Electoral and Political Parties Law; the reforms to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Law; the Foreign Service Law; the reforms to the Central Bank Law; the reforms to the Monetary Law; the Banking Law; the Immigration Law; the National Dialogue Law; the Territorial Management Law; the Potable Water and Sanitation Law; the Property System Law; the reforms to the Municipalities Law; the Public Information and Transparency Law; the Public Servant Ethics Law; the Civil Procedures Law; the Consumer Protection Law; the Witness Protection Law; Initiative for the protection of women from violence; Initiative for the protection of the population from pollution of the mining company in the north of the Department of Francisco Morazán; the reform of the National Identification System; the Honduran Emigrants and its Families Protection Law.

As Secretary of Justice and the Interior, he championed the causes of local economic development; administrative, technical and financial strengthening of the municipalities, territorial management and fiscal decentralization, strengthening of citizen's participation and organization in health, education, agriculture and social infrastructure at the local level, access to justice, national policy for women, protection of children against violence, minorities rights, and immigration and administrative reforms.

Doctor Hernández-Alcerro has served on many boards of directors. He has been a member of the Central Committee of the National Party of Honduras; Founder and Director of "Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo de Honduras" (FDDH) an NGO that promotes political reform; Governor of the Board of "Fundación para las Inversiones y el Desarrollo" (FIDE) an institution geared to the attraction of foreign investments; member of "Consejo Hondureño para la Competitividad" a group that stimulated Honduras' international competitiveness; Director of "Fundación Habitacional Vida Nueva" a social housing NGO; member of "Fundación Guadalupe" a catholic association for social projects in Santa Barbara, Honduras; founder and member of "Asociación Libertad y Democracia" (ALD) an association dedicated to educate new political leaders and research public policy related to poverty alleviation; and Director of "Fundación para la Paz y la Democracia en Centroamérica" (FUNPADEM) San José, Costa Rica, an institution that promotes peace and better understanding among the Central American nations.

He has received many awards and honors from private and public institutions. The Government of Colombia decorated him with the "Orden Nacional al Mérito Civil" for his contribution to the Central American peace process. The Government of Brazil awarded him the "Orden de Río Branco" for his efforts to promote the relations between Honduras and Brazil. The Government of the Republic of China in Taiwan decorated him with the "Order of the Shinning Star" for his contribution to international cooperation. His own country bestowed upon him one of the highest decorations awarded by Honduras, the "Orden de Francisco Morazán" for distinguished services to his country. His hometown, Comayagua, honored him with the "Orden de Santa María de Valladolid" and declared him "Favorite Son".

Personal Information

Doctor Hernández-Alcerro is married to Mariza Veiga a French Language and French Literature graduate of Brazilian origin. He is the father of Alejandro Hernández, a Rice University and Columbia University alum and currently an investment banker for Goldman Sachs in Houston, Texas; and Morela Hernández, a Rice University and Duke University alum and currently a Professor of Management at the Foster School of Business, University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He is the proud grandfather of Chloe Juliette and Lila Grace Hernández, and Luca Paul and Anisa Natalia Singh.

July, 2010