Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez

Carlos Ruiz-Hernández is a Panamanian diplomat, legal advisor, and public policy strategist working in multilateral diplomacy, sovereign advisory, and academic work across the Americas and Europe. He most recently served as vice minister of foreign affairs of Panama (2024–2025), where he led foreign policy during a period of global disruption, representing Panama at the UN Security Council and managing strategic relationships with the United States, China, and the European Union. He was a key interlocutor with the Biden and Trump administrations, helping to negotiate critical bilateral agreements on migration, security, and economic cooperation. During a period of high tension over the Panama Canal, he played a central role in preserving bilateral diplomatic and defense cooperation while asserting Panama’s sovereignty and neutrality. An international attorney with two LLM degrees from Tulane University, he has advised sovereign clients on international arbitration, restructurings, and cross-border disputes. He previously served as foreign special counsel to U.S. firms and held senior consultant roles at leading organizations such as the New York Bar Association. Earlier in his career, he served as deputy permanent representative to the UN (2011–2014), contributing to global work on international security and sustainable development transition. He worked in Brussels and Geneva on IR legal and strategic matters. He holds a master’s degree in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University and is currently on academic leave from the University of Chicago’s Harris School, where he is completing a master’s in public policy.