{{short description|Argentine journalist and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Héctor Timerman |image = Timerman en sept 2015 (cropped).jpg |image_size = |office = Minister of Foreign Affairs |president = Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |term_start = 22 June 2010 |term_end = 10 December 2015 |predecessor = Jorge Taiana |successor = Susana Malcorra |office1 = Ambassador to the United States |president1 = Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |term_start1 = 10 December 2007 |term_end1 = 18 June 2010 |predecessor1 = José Octavio Bordón |successor1 = Alfredo Chiaradía |birth_name = Héctor Marcos Timerman |birth_date = {{birth date|1953|12|16|df=y}} |birth_place = Buenos Aires, Argentina |death_date = {{death_date and age|2018|12|30|1953|12|6|df=y}} |death_place = Buenos Aires, Argentina |party = Justicialist Party |other_party = Front for Victory {{small|(2003–2018)}} |spouse = Annabella Selecki |alma_mater = Columbia University }} '''Héctor Marcos Timerman''' (16 December 1953 – 30 December 2018) was an Argentine journalist, politician, human rights activist and diplomat. He served as his country's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2015, during the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.<ref name="AP_061810">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/9134111 |title=Argentina names envoy to US as foreign minister |work=The Guardian |date=19 June 2010}}</ref>
==Biography==
===Early life and career=== Héctor Timerman was born in Buenos Aires, to Risha (née Mindlin) and Jacobo Timerman. He was of Lithuanian Jewish descent.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/hispanicwriters00brya |url-access=registration |quote=Risha Mindlin Timerman. |title=Hispanic writers: a selection of sketches from Contemporary authors |author=Bryan Ryan |publisher=Gale Group |date=1991 |isbn=9780810376885 }}</ref>
He was named editor-in-chief of ''La Tarde'', one of a number of periodicals owned by his father, in 1976, and steered the daily in support of the newly installed dictatorship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perfil.com/contenidos/2007/11/03/noticia_0015.html|title=Timerman dirigió un diario que defendía la dictadura|work=Perfil|date=3 November 2007}}</ref> His father's kidnapping on 15 April 1977 prompted Timerman to become active in the defense of human rights, however, and in 1978 he was exiled to New York City, where, in 1981, he co-founded Americas Watch, the Western Hemisphere counterpart to Helsinki Watch that proceeded the creation of the unified Human Rights Watch. He later served in the board of directors of the Fund for Free Expression, a press freedom advocacy group based in London.<ref name=cv>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrecic.gov.ar/userfiles/cv-timerman.pdf |title=Curriculum vitae |work=Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820185843/http://mrecic.gov.ar/userfiles/cv-timerman.pdf |archive-date=20 August 2013 }}</ref> During his exile in the U.S., he gained American citizenship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/2206802-timerman-lider-progresista-paso-exilio-periodismo-militancia|title=Timerman, un progresista que paso por exilio, el periodisimo, la militancia y la diplomacia|work=La Nacion|date=30 December 2018}}</ref>
===Journalist and activist=== Timerman earned a master's degree in international relations at Columbia University in 1981, and wrote several op-ed columns for the ''New York Times'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Newsweek'', and ''The Nation''. After returning to Argentina in 1989, he founded two news magazines, ''Tres Puntos'' and ''Debate'', and became a regular contributor to ''Noticias'' and ''Ámbito Financiero''.<ref name=cv/> He also hosted a television news interview program, ''Diálogos con Opinión''. Timerman was an early adherent to Congresswoman Elisa Carrió's center-left ARI. Following elections in 2003, however, he became a close supporter of President Néstor Kirchner.<ref name=ln>{{cite web|url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1276418|title=Un kirchnerista fiel, al palacio San Martín|work=La Nación|date=18 July 2010}}</ref>
Timerman remained active in human rights advocacy. He served as a director of the Buenos Aires office of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights from 2002 to 2004, and was President of the [https://www.sitesofconscience.org/en/home/ International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience]. Timerman was the first witness to give testimony in the trial of Christian von Wernich, a former Buenos Aires Province Police chaplain convicted of complicity in numerous dictatorship-era murders and tortures (including that of his father).<ref name=ln/> He published his observations on this issue in a 2005 book, ''Torture''.<ref name=cv/>
===Foreign minister=== [[File:Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman & UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, 10 February 2012.jpg|thumb|Foreign Minister Timerman and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Feb. 2012]] President Néstor Kirchner appointed Timerman Consul General in New York City in July 2004, and in December 2007, he was named Argentine Ambassador to the United States. Differences between President Cristina Kirchner and Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana, and an incident in which she called Taiana's loyalty into question, reportedly led to Taiana's resignation on 18 June 2010;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clarin.com/politica/Presidenta-renuncio-sorpresivamente-canciller-Taiana_0_282571977.html |title=Una frase de Cristina molestó a Taiana y lo llevó a presentar la renuncia|work=Clarín|date=18 June 2010 }}</ref> Taiana's replacement by Timerman was announced the same day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10356041 |title=Argentine Foreign Minister Taiana in shock resignation |work=BBC News |date=18 June 2010}}</ref>
Timerman's tenure was marked by intensified diplomatic foreign controversies. Bringing perpetrators of the 1994 AMIA bombing to justice was prioritized, pursuant to which he persuaded the neighboring government of Bolivia to cut short a state visit to that country in 2011 by Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi (whose arrest Argentine authorities had sought since 2007 in connection with the attack),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13612569|title=Bolivia apologises to Argentina for Iran minister visit|work=BBC News|date=1 June 2011}}</ref> while also working to establish a Truth Commission jointly with Iran in 2013 to investigate the 1994 bombing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-iran-investigation-idUSBRE98R0FI20130928|title=Argentina says Iran committed to probing 1994 bombing|work=Reuters|date=28 September 2013}}</ref> He likewise advanced ongoing efforts against vulture funds seeking payment at face value on bonds bought from resellers for pennies on the dollar, and whose attempts to block payments to all other bondholders continued to threaten Argentina's successful earlier debt restructuring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/argentina-vs-the-vultures-what-you-need-to-know|title=Argentina vs. the Vultures: What You Need to Know|work=CEPR|author=Arthur Phillips and Jake Johnston|date=2 April 2013|access-date=22 April 2014|archive-date=27 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627145731/http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/argentina-vs-the-vultures-what-you-need-to-know|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hector-timerman/africa-latin-america-vulture-funds_b_2100827.html|title=Africa and Latin America Still Fight Vulture Funds|work=Huffington Post|date=14 November 2012}}</ref>
The longstanding Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute figured prominently during Timerman's tenure as well. Timerman said, "We have been trying to find a peaceful solution for 180 years. I think the fanatics are not in Buenos Aires."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-21341578|title=Argentina vows to control Falklands| work=BBC News |date=5 February 2013}}</ref> His policy regarding the dispute remained assertive, refusing to accept a letter from a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands who ambushed Timerman following talks in February 2013 with U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9851070/Argentinas-foreign-minister-refuses-to-speak-to-Falkland-Islander.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Peter | last=Dominiczak | title=Argentina's foreign minister refuses to speak to Falkland Islander | date=5 February 2013}}</ref> obtaining declarations in support of Argentine sovereignty from African and Latin American nations,<ref name=peaceful>{{cite web|url=http://embassyofargentina.us/embassyofargentina.us/en/news/01032014%20malvinas%20a%20peaceful%20strugle.html|title=A Peaceful Struggle|work=Embassy of Argentina in the United States|date=3 January 2014}}</ref> and later declaring that the Falklands "will be under our control within 20 years."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/05/falklands-under-our-control-argentina|title=Falklands will be under our control within 20 years, says Argentina|work=The Guardian|date=5 February 2013}}</ref> He nevertheless described the dispute in January 2014 as a "peaceful struggle".<ref name=peaceful/>
===Arrest and death=== Timerman was arrested in late 2017 under charges of covering up Iranian involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing which left 85 people dead. He died of cancer while he was under arrest on 30 December 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Héctor Timerman, Argentine diplomat and foreign minister, dies at 65 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/hector-timerman-argentine-diplomat-and-foreign-minister-dies-at-65/2018/12/30/157329de-0c91-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html?noredirect=on |access-date=2 January 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=30 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> After his double-dealing regarding Argentine relations with Iran and the fraudulent efforts to attain justice for the 1994 AMIA bombing, the Argentine Jewish community released a joint non-condolence "no comment" release after his death.
==Honours and awards== ===Foreign honours=== * 50x50px {{flag|Peru}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru (21 October 2010)<ref>{{cite news |title=Presidente García tiene previsto realizar dos visitas a Argentina, informa canciller |url=https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia-presidente-garcia-tiene-previsto-realizar-dos-visitas-a-argentina-informa-canciller-323784.aspx |access-date=7 November 2025 |work=Andina |date=21 October 2010 |language=es}}</ref> * 50x50px {{flag|Chile}}: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (20 May 2013)<ref>{{cite web |title=Reunión de los Cancilleres de Argentina y Chile |url=https://www.cancilleria.gob.ar/es/actualidad/comunicados/reunion-de-los-cancilleres-de-argentina-y-chile |publisher=Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto |access-date=7 November 2025 |language=es |date=20 May 2013}}</ref> * 50x50px {{flag|Ecuador}}: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2 March 2016)<ref>{{cite book |title=Registro Oficial. Administración del Sr. Ec. Rafael Correa Delgado, Presidente Constitucional de la República. Año III - Nº 703 |date=2 March 2016 |page=3 |url=https://www.gob.ec/sites/default/files/regulations/2020-02/Documento_Norma-para-calificaci%C3%B3n-auditores-entidades-sector-financiero-popular-solidario-sector-no-financiero-econom%C3%ADa-popular-solidaria.pdf |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120508023656/http://www.mrecic.gov.ar/ Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto] *[http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/h_eacute_ctor_timerman ''The Nation'': Héctor Timerman]
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Jorge Taiana}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of Foreign Affairs|years=2010–2015}} {{s-aft|after=Susana Malcorra}} {{s-end}}
{{CFK cabinet 1}} {{CFK cabinet 2}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timerman, Hector}} Category:1953 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Ambassadors of Argentina to the United States Category:Argentine human rights activists Category:Argentine journalists Category:Argentine male journalists Category:Argentine people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Category:Argentine people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Category:School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Category:Foreign ministers of Argentina Category:Jewish Argentine politicians Category:Journalists from Buenos Aires Category:Politicians from Buenos Aires Category:Deaths from liver cancer in Argentina Category:Fernández de Kirchner administration cabinet members Category:Jewish Argentine journalists