H.E. Hernán Bascuñán presented his Letters of Credence to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander on 24 June 2026, officially beginning his tenure as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Chile to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The ceremony took place at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, following traditional diplomatic protocol, including the presentation of national honours and a private audience with the Dutch Head of State.
Born in Santiago de Chile on 2 May 1961, Ambassador Hernán Bascuñán is a lawyer and career diplomat specialized in Public International Law and International Relations. He graduated in Law from the University of Chile and obtained his professional qualification as a lawyer in 1987. He later joined the Andrés Bello Diplomatic Academy of Chile, where he received the “Barros Jarpa” Prize for the best student of his class. He also completed the Foreign Service Programme at the University of Oxford and obtained a Diploma in Foreign Service from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
Throughout his diplomatic career, Ambassador Bascuñán has held several senior positions within the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and represented his country in Europe and Latin America. Before his appointment to The Hague, he served as Director of the Andrés Bello Diplomatic Academy of Chile, the institution responsible for the training of Chile’s future diplomats.
His previous diplomatic assignments include Ambassador of Chile to the Czech Republic (2022–2024) and Ambassador to Sweden and Latvia (2018–2022). Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Director of the Strategic Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consul General of Chile in São Paulo, Brazil, and diplomat at Chilean missions in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
Ambassador Bascuñán also brings extensive experience in multilateral affairs, having worked within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Multilateral Policy, including responsibilities related to Chile’s participation in the United Nations Security Council.
With his extensive diplomatic background and expertise in international relations, Ambassador Hernán Bascuñán will contribute to further strengthening the longstanding partnership between Chile and the Netherlands, advancing cooperation in areas such as sustainable energy, trade, innovation, multilateral diplomacy, international law and shared global challenges.
