Mr. Alvarez, a Costa Rican national, joined the World Bank in 2000 as a Legal Counsel for the Legal Vice-Presidency for Latin America and the Caribbean, where he collaborated with Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panamá, Peru and the Caribbean. From 2005, he has been based in the regional offices of Mexico (covering Mexico and Colombia), New Delhi (covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and Dubai (covering Afghanistan and Pakistan), advising each Country Management Unit on World Bank legal, operational and policy issues. His most recent assignment was Resident Representative for Ecuador in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. Before joining the World Bank, Alvarez worked in the public and private sectors in Costa Rica.
He holds a law degree (JD) from the Universidad Autónoma de Centro América – UACA in Costa Rica and a postgraduate degree (LLM) in international law from the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C.