Yuri Mantilla
Yuri Mantilla is Focus on the Family’s director for International Government Affairs. His work focuses on communicating Focus’ pro-life/pro-family perspective to government, church and business leaders in foreign nations and the Hispanic community in the United States.
Before joining Focus on the Family, Yuri Mantilla worked at the Family Research Council in Washington D.C. as Counsel for International Human Rights and Hispanic Affairs.
Mr. Mantilla specializes in international human rights law. Currently, he is researching and writing on issues related to the law, bio-ethics and culture, issues which affect the international community. He has published research papers and articles in journals such as the Catholic Law Review.
Yuri Mantilla has been a guest on CNN International, Telemundo, Univision and the BBC of London. On these network programs, Mr. Mantilla presented the Christian perspective on issues such as abortion, homosexuality and human cloning. He was also host of a weekly radio talk show, “Hispanic Family”, a program that dealt with public policy issues from a pro-life and pro-family perspective.
Mr. Mantilla’s international experience and law background make him uniquely equipped to deal with a range of issues. As a missionary and professor with the International Institute for Christian Studies (IICS), he taught international law in China. In Latin America, he frequently gives television and radio interviews and speaks to government, church and political leaders.
Mr. Mantilla received his law degree in international legal studies (LLM) from American University in Washington DC. He received his first law degree from Kiev State University in Ukraine. He also holds a Masters of Arts degree in International Human Rights from Trinity International University in California and studied theology at Columbia Biblical Seminary in South Carolina.