By Ingrid Bachmann
President Laura Chinchilla has appointed veteran journalist Eduardo Ulibarri to be Costa Rica's new representative to the United Nations, La Nación reports.
Ulibarri, 58, was editor of La Nación between 1982-2003 and is currently a university professor, consultant, and president of the Institute for Press and Freedom of Expression (Iplex), AFP adds.
In announcing her decision, Chinchilla praised Ulibarri's career path and his "intellectual strength, honorability and prudence." His appointment was praised in Costa Rica, but some questioned the decision due to his lack of diplomatic experience, La República says. In an interview with La Nación, Ulibarri recognized that he is not a specialist in foreign relations but said, "I have always been a student of that subject."
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
