Top U.S. diplomat to visit Guyana Saturday

Feb 23, 2024 News

– leading US delegation to CARICOM summit

Kaieteur News – United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield will lead a US delegation here from Saturday to participate in the CARICOM 46^th regular Meeting slated for Guyana next week.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield

While in Georgetown, Thomas-Greenfield will reiterate the US’ commitment to Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the US Embassy here said in a press release. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will meet with Guyanese President Dr. Mohammed Irfaan Ali to discuss the United States’ commitment to Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Guyana’s priorities on the UN Security Council for its elected term, reaffirm bilateral partnerships on shared priorities such as food security, migration, and climate change.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield who is also a member of Joe Biden’s cabinet will also advance an array of Biden-Harris Administration regional policy goals under the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis (PACC 2030) and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) – including on firearms trafficking, governance, energy, trade, climate resilience, and sustainable development – with multiple leaders attending the Summit.

At the CARICOM Summit, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will continue to rally global support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti and reiterate the urgency of establishing a credible and inclusive path toward elections to enable the return to democratic order for the Haitian people. In Georgetown, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will also meet with Venezuelan migrant small business owners and members of civil society. Other members of the U.S. delegation include: Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols, USAID Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean Marcela Escobari, Senior Coordinator for Atlantic Cooperation Ambassador Jessye Lapenn, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy Laura Lochman.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat, returned to public service after retiring from a 35-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service in 2017. From 2013 to 2017 she served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, where she led the bureau focused on the development and management of U.S. policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to this appointment, she served as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012-2013), leading a team in charge of the State Department’s 70,000-strong workforce.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s distinguished Foreign Service career includes an ambassadorship to Liberia (2008-2012), and postings in Switzerland (at the United States Mission to the United Nations, Geneva), Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Jamaica. In Washington, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs (2006-2008), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (2004-2006).

After retiring from the U.S. State Department in 2017, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield led the Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategic commercial diplomacy firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She was also the inaugural Distinguished Resident Fellow in African Studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University from fall 2017 to spring 2019.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield was the 2017 recipient of University of Minnesota Hubert Humphrey Public Leadership Award, the 2015 recipient of the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award and the 2000 recipient of the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she also did work towards a doctorate. She received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Wisconsin in May 2018 and an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Liberia in May 2012.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, CARICOM, Commitment, diplomat, Guyana

Latest News