Interpol's executive committee today for the first time elected a police officer from a developing country to head the international police agency. This will be Valdesi Urquiza from Brazil, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Urcuiza, aged 43, currently heads international cooperation at Brazil's federal police and will succeed Jürgen Stock of Germany as head of Interpol from 2025 to 2030.
A graduate of the FBI's national academy in the US state of Virginia, Urquiza received eight votes to two for British candidate Stephen Kavanagh and one for Zambia's Mubita Naua.
His selection must be ratified by Interpol's general assembly in November in Glasgow, the Brazilian government said in a statement. The Assembly has always followed the recommendations of the Executive Committee for the General Secretary.
„This is a recognition of Brazil's neutrality,”, Urquiza told reporters after the election at the agency's headquarters in the French city of Lyon. “Interpol can gain a lot from the diversity and experience of other countries”, he added.
Interpol is the largest police organization in the world with 196 member countries. During its hundred-year history, Interpol was led by representatives of four European countries and the United States.
„The organization risks losing credibility and legitimacy if it isolates itself. "All countries should feel included, all regions should be served," Urquiza said in an interview with Reuters in February.