Yván Gil
Yván Eduardo Gil Pinto is a Venezuelan diplomat and politician serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela since 6 January 2023.
Biography
Gil holds a degree in agricultural engineering from the Central University of Venezuela, and also pursued a doctorate in biotechnology in Montpellier, France. Prior to his political career, he was president of the National Institute of Agricultural Research, and of the state-owned agricultural supply company Agropatria.Gil is a member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela. In 2013–2014 and 2015–2016, he served as Minister of Agriculture and Land, and in 2017, he was appointed Vice Minister for Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2021–2022, he served as chargé d'affaires of Venezuela to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium.
Gil succeeded Carlos Faría as Minister of Foreign Affairs in January 2023; one commentator saw Gil's appointment as an attempt by president Nicolás Maduro to strengthen relations between Venezuela and the European Union, as his predecessor was viewed as close to the Russian government. In February 2024, Gil announced that the government of Venezuela ordered the United Nations human rights office in Caracas to shut down all operations, ordering the staff to leave the country within three days.