Homenaje a Adolfo Aguilar Zinser: A Tribute, A Reflection September 9 , 2005

 

Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser during a visit to Berkeley. (Second image: Walking the campus with Professor Harley Shaiken, Chair of the Center for Latin American Studies.)

Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico´s former Ambassador to the United Nations (2002-2003), died tragically in an automobile accident on June 5, 2005. He played a central role in Mexican politics over the last several decades, pushing forward a democratic agenda with intelligence, integrity, and courage. At the UN, Secretary General Kofi Annan reflected that “Mr. Aguilar Zinser served his country with dedication, wit and independence of spirit at a crucial time for the multilateral system, and will be remembered with respect and affection by many colleagues and friends around the world.”

Retrospective of Ambassador Aguilar Zinser's long and fruitful relationship with the Center for Latin American Studies and Berkeley

 

Professor Sergio Aguayo, of El Colegio de México, speaks at the memorial for Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser in the Morrison Room of Doe Library on September 9.

Martha Ketchum de Aguilar Zinser

From left: Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, the former mayor of Mexico City, Professor David Bonior, House Democratic Whip from 1994-2002, and Victor Lichtinger, the former Mexican Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources.

Those in attendance watch a taped statement by Juan Gabriel Valdés, Head of the United Nations Mission in Haiti, and the former Chilean Ambassador to the UN during Ambassador Aguilar Zinser's tenure there.

Berkeley faculty, students and community members packed the room for the commemoration.

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas talks with audience members after the event.