Gabriel Guerra-Mondragón (born September 4, 1942 in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

) was the United States Ambassador to Chile from 1994-1998. Nominated by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in July 1994, and was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on October 4 of that year. He was administered the oath of office by

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Albert Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic nom ...

on October 25, 1994 and arrived in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

on November 8, 1994 to present his credentials to Chilean President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. As the ambassador to Chile, Gabriel Guerra-Mondragón angered many right-wing Chilean leaders because he publicly stated that the Chilean president does not have the Constitutional authority to remove the top military leaders, according to the Chilean constitution of 1980. Many of Pinochet's supporters in the Chilean parliament were infuriated by these remarks, however left-wing politicians and other Pinochet opponents considered that the ambassador had merely spoken the truth.Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Chile
/ref> An alumnus of Colegio San Ignacio;

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

; the School of Advanced International Studies of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

; and the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It ...

, Guerra-Mondragón has an extensive knowledge and background in the field of

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

and is fluent in Spanish and

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. He joined the Foreign Service of the United States in 1976. His assignments included as a Foreign Service Officer included

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Desk Officer in the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in 1977; Executive Director, US National Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

from 1977–1979; Staff Assistant in the Office of the Secretary of State from 1979–1980; Special Assistant to the Ambassador and then Political Officer at the US Embassy in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

from 1980–1983; and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Desk Officer in the Department of State from 1983-1984. In 1984, Ambassador Guerra-Mondragón was assigned on a detail from the Department of State as Deputy Program Director for

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Washington, DC, where he served until 1986. In that year, he became President of TKC International Incorporated in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1994, he was appointed by President Clinton as a Commissioner of the American Battle Monuments Commission in Washington, DC. In addition to his foreign service experience, Ambassador Guerra-Mondragón is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

; a former member of the Puerto Rican Legal and Education Defense Fund; and a member of the Puerto Rico Bar Association. Appointed by President Barack Obama to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board in 2012. Board Member of the Jose Limon Dance Foundation, New York. Presently, Ambassador Guerra-Mondragón has returned to his homeland: San Juan, Puerto Rico. He continues to be the President of Guerra and Associates, an International Consulting Firm that specializes in U.S. and Latin America relations. He is the grandson of Miguel Guerra Mondragón, who was a very well known attorney and politician in Puerto Rico.

References

External links

Official biography on the Council of American Ambassadors official websiteArticle on U.S.-Chilean relations by Ambassador Guerra-Mondragón
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerra-Mondragon, Gabriel 1942 births Living people People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Ambassadors of the United States to Chile Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni Hispanic and Latino American diplomats Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola alumni Fordham University alumni University of Puerto Rico alumni United States Foreign Service personnel