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Adolfo Aguilar Zínser (2 December 1949 – 5 June 2005) was a Mexican scholar, diplomat and politician who served as a National Security Advisor to President Vicente Fox and as a UN Security Council Ambassador in the midst of the US Invasion to Iraq.
Born in Mexico City into an aristocratic family, Aguilar Zínser studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, international relations at El Colegio de México (1972-75) and completed a master's degree in international and public affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government (1977-78).
He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies representing the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in 1994 and served until 1997. From 1997 to 2000 he served in the Senate representing the Green Ecological Party of Mexico (PVEM).
Following Vicente Fox's election to the Presidency (representing a coalition of the National Action Party and the PVEM) on 2 July 2000, Aguilar Zínser served as the transition team's advisor on international affairs. After taking office, Fox appointed Aguilar Zínser his national security advisor.
In January 2002, Fox appointed Aguilar Zínser Mexico's permanent representative to the United Nations. His term coincided with Mexico's election to the Security Council and, in accordance with the Security Council's rules of procedure, he served as its president for two one-month terms.
Following a speech to students at Mexico City's Ibero-American University on 11 November 2003, in which Aguilar Zínser claimed that the political and intellectual class of the United States sees Mexico as "a country whose position is that of a back yard" and that Washington was only interested in "a relationship of convenience and subordination", the Mexican president requested his resignation on 18 November. Two days later Aguilar Zínser announced his resignation in writing accussing the President of treason and submission to US interests.
After leaving the UN, Aguilar Zínser received a honorary degree from Ricardo Palma University (Peru) and hosted a weekly TV show on a Mexican cable channel. He died in a car accident near his summer chalet in Tepoztlán, Morelos, on June 5, 2005, at the age of 55.
External links
- El Universal: Perfil de Adolfo Aguilar Zínser (http://estadis.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/287020.html) (in Spanish)
- ABC News: Former Mexican U.N. Envoy Killed in Wreck (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=822490)