José Graziano da Silva of Brazil was elected Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Graziano da Silva received a total of 92 votes out of 180 votes cast, winning over former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé, who received 88 votes. There were no abstentions.

The election took place on the second day of the biennial 191 member nation Conference of FAO, which also will vote on the Organization's budget for 2012-2013.

Since 2006, he has served as FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Graziano da Silva is FAO's eighth Director-General since the Organization was founded in Quebec City, Canada on October 16, 1945. The term of the new Director-General, who will succeed Senegal's Jacques Diouf, will start on 1 January 2012 and run through 31 July 2015.