Rigoberto Gauto Vielman presented his credentials as Paraguay’s ambassador to the United States on February 24, 2010.

 

Gauto was born in Asunción, Paraguay in 1952. He graduated from Cristo Rey High School.

 

Between 1977 and 1990, he became a specialist in Foreign Trade and Intellectual Property as he attended a GATT Trade Policy Course (1977), a three month seminar on Commercial Promotions in Tokyo (1980), training in Intellectual Property (1983), and a course on Agricultural Cooperatives in Bologna, Italy (1990). He holds a law degree from the National University of Asuncion’s School of Law and came to specialize in Foreign Trade and Intellectually Property.

 

Gauto worked at the Ministry of Trade and Industry from 1976 to 1989. He held several positions such as the Vice Director of International Trade Negotiations and the Vice Director of the Industrial Property Office.

 

In 1989, he served as the General Direction for Cooperatives for the Ministry of Agriculture but joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs two years later.

 

Since 1991, he has occupied positions such as the Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Paraguay in Geneva, Switzerland; Minister at the Embassy of Paraguay in Montevideo, Uruguay; Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the UN Office and Specialized Organizations in Geneva. 

 

In Geneva, Gauto chaired the UN’s Landlocked Developing Countries Group and the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.

 

He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Guaraní.

 

He and his wife, Estela Espinola-Gauto, have four daughters and two grandchildren.

-Rujuta Gandhi