United States names new Guatemala ambassador

U.S. President Barack Obama has named Arnold A. Chacón, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, as ambassador to Guatemala, succeeding Stephen G. McFarland, who held the post since 2008. Officially he remains a U.S. designee until his credentials are accepted by the Guatemalan government.

Chacón, whose nomination was confirmed last month by the U.S. Senate, had been deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. Previously he served as director of Andean affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and deputy executive secretary in the department’s executive secretariat.

Since beginning his diplomatic career in 1981, Chacón has served in a number of posts in Ecuador, Peru, Italy, Chile, Mexico and Honduras.

He also served as deputy director of Central American Affairs, special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Italy desk officer, political advisor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, watch officer in the operations center and American Political Science Association Fellow.

Chacón received a B.A. in international affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Ambassador McFarland has been re-assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, where he will oversee security and justice.