Freddy Padilla de León

General Freddy José Padilla de León (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈfɾeði paˈðiʝa]; born 10 October 1948)^[1] is a retired General of the Army of Colombia and currently serves as Ambassador of Colombia to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna.^[2][3] Prior to this diplomatic post General Padilla served as the General Commander of the Armed Forces of Colombia from 2006 to 2010,^[4] and as such assumed the Ministry of National Defence ad interim in 2009.^[5]

Freddy José Padilla de León
Colombia Ambassador to Austria
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 October 2010
President	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Preceded by	Rosso José Serrano Cadena
Colombia Ambassador to the Czech Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 April 2011
President	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Preceded by	Rosso José Serrano Cadena
Colombia Ambassador to Hungary
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 May 2011
President	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Preceded by	Rosso José Serrano Cadena
Colombia Ambassador to Slovenia
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 July 2011
President	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Preceded by	Rosso José Serrano Cadena
Colombia Ambassador to Slovakia
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 July 2011
President	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Preceded by	Rosso José Serrano Cadena
Colombian Minister of National Defence
In office 23 May 2009 – 7 August 2009
President	Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Preceded by	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Succeeded by	Gabriel Silva Luján
Personal details
Born	(1948-10-10) 10 October 1948 (age 76) Montería, Bolívar, Colombia
Spouse	Adda Miryam Hodges
Children	Freddy Padilla Hodges Johanna María Padilla Hodges Diana Padilla Hodges Adda Padilla Hodges Mariana Padilla Hodges
Residence(s)	Vienna, Austria
Alma mater	Pontifical Xavierian University (BSc, MA)
Profession	Industrial Engineer
Military service
Allegiance	Colombia
Branch/service	National Army of Colombia
Years of service	1966-2010
Rank	General
Commands	General Commander of the Armed Forces of Colombia Colombian Army Chief of Staff General Inspector of the Armed Forces Colombian Army Chief of Operations (a.i.) Director of the Colombian Army School of Engineers 12th Battalion of Engineers
Battles/wars	Colombian armed conflict (1964–present)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Padilla and the second or maternal family name is de León.

Ambassadorship

As Ambassador to Austria, Gen. Padilla is also accredited as Resident Representative to the various United Nations programmes and agencies located at the United Nations Office at Vienna. He presented his Letters of Credence to the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Yuri Fedotov on 13 October,^[6] to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano on 28 October,^[7] to the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Kandeh K. Yumkella on 1 November.^[8]

As Ambassador of Colombia to Austria, Gen Padilla is dually accredited as Non-Resident Ambassador to the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Slovakia, the Republic of Croatia, and the Republic of Turkey. In this capacity, Gen Padilla presented his Letters of Credence to the different heads of state or representatives, first to the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus on 11 April 2011 at Prague Castle,^[9] then to the President of Hungary, Pál Schmitt on 31 May 2011, to the President of Slovakia, Ivan Gašparovič on 12 July at the Grassalkovich Palace,^[10][11] and to Igor Senčar, the Director-General of the Directorate for European Affairs and Bilateral Political Relations at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 14 July,^[12]

References

1. "¿Quién Es El Nuevo Comandante De Las FF.MM?" [Who is the New Commander of the Armed Forces?] (in Spanish). SNE. 15 August 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
2. "Neuernannte Botschafter überreichen dem Bundespräsidenten ihr Beglaubigungsschreiben" [Newly Appointed Ambassadors Handed Their Credentials to the President] (Press release) (in German). OTS-Austria Presse Agentur. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
3. "New Permanent Representative of Colombia Presents Credentials". United Nations Information Service Vienna. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
4. "General Freddy Padilla De León new Military Forces Commander". Army of Colombia. 15 August 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
5. "El general Padilla de León es el nuevo Mindefensa encargado" [General Padilla de León is the new Minister of Defence in charge]. Revista Semana (in Spanish). 23 May 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
6. "Meetings and Visits". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. H.E. Mr. Freddy Padilla De León, Permanent Representative of Colombia, presented his credentials to Mr. Fedotov
7. "Presentation of Credentials". Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. image 25. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. Presentation of credentials of the new Resident Representative of Colombia, H.E. Ambassador Freddy Padilla de Leon, to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, IAEA, Vienna, Austria, 28 October 2010.
8. "LAC Member States: Credentials". Vienna: United Nations, UNIDO Office at Vienna. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. H.E. Mr. Freddy Padilla de León, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative, (01-11-2010)
9. "Diplomatic List" (PDF). Czech Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 8 September 2011. pp. 11, 57. Retrieved 20 September 2011. Republic of Colombia: H.E. Mr. Freddy PADILLA DE LEÓN April 11, 2011
10. "Ivan Gašparovič prijal nového veľvyslanca Kolumbie v SR" [Ivan Gašparovič received the new Ambassador of Colombia in Slovakia] (in Slovak). Bratislava: Slovakia, Press Office of the President of Slovakia. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. Svoje poverovoacie listiny odovzdal dnes hlave štátu v Prezidentskom paláci aj mimoriadny a splnomocnený veľvyslanec Kolumbijskej republiky v SR so sídlom vo Viedni Freddy Padilla De León.
11. "Presentation of Letters of Credence". Honorary Consulate of Colombia in Slovakia. 12 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011. H.E. Freddy Padilla de León, non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Colombia to the Slovak Republic presented his Credentials to H.E. Ivan Gašparovič, President of the Slovak Republic on Tuesday, 12th July 2011. Mr. Anton Siekel, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Colombia in the Slovak Republic was also present at the ceremony.
12. "Director-General Senčar receives a copy of credentials from the newly-appointed Colombian Ambassador". Ljubljana: Slovenia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. Igor Senčar, Director-General of the Directorate for European Affairs and Bilateral Political Relations at the Foreign Ministry, received a copy of the credentials from the newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Columbia to the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Freddy Padilla de Leon.^{[dead link]}