Lawrence Anthony Pezzullo
(occasionally alternately spelled as Pezzulo
) (May 3, 1926 – July 26, 2017) was an American diplomat and
Foreign Service officer. He served as the United States Ambassador to Nicaragua (1979–1981) and to Uruguay (1977–1979). He was also the executive director of
Catholic Relief Services from 1983 to 1992.
Early life and education
Pezzullo was born in
New York City, and attended high school in
Levittown, New York, and
Columbia College, from which he graduated in 1951 on a
G.I. Bill as a history major.
Career
After college, he taught high school in
Levittown, New York for six years before joining the
United States Foreign Service.
He served in
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Juà ...
from 1958 to 1960,
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
from 1962 to 1965,
La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
from 1965 to 1967,
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
from 1967 to 1969, and
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
from 1969 to 1971.
In 1972, he earned a master's degree from
National War College
The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active.
History
The National War Colle ...
and was assigned to the Office of Central American Affairs at the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
, before being named deputy director in 1974. From 1975 to 1977, he was the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations and was then named the
United States Ambassador to Uruguay
The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Uruguay. The current title given by the United States State Department to this position is Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
See also
* U ...
in 1977.
He served for two years before being appointed as the
United States Ambassador to Nicaragua by President
Jimmy Carter in 1979. During his tenure as ambassador, Pezzullo negotiated the abdication of
Anastasio Somoza DeBayle
Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was ''de facto'' ruler of ...
and paved way for
Sandinista rule in the country.
, foreign minister of
Nicaragua, once said that Pezzullo was "the best U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua in this century" for
''trying to help his government understand the irreversibility of the process here and seek a ''modus vivendi'' with" the Sandinistas.
In 1983, he was appointed as the first layman director of the international
Catholic Relief Services and helped relocate the headquarters of the organization from
New York City to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
.
After leaving
Catholic Relief Services, Pezzullo was named special envoy to
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
by President
Bill Clinton in 1993 with the aim of brokering a transition from military to civilian rule.
However, the effort was unsuccessful and he stepped down from the position a year later.
He served as the diplomat-in-residence at
University of Georgia and lectured at
Goucher College.
Personal life
He married Josephine DiMattia in February 1950 and with her has three children. Pezzulo died on July 26, 2017, at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife, three children, and seven grandchildren.
Muere exembajador de EE.UU. en Nicaragua, Lawrence Pezzullo.
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pezzulo, Lawrence
2017 deaths
1926 births
Columbia College (New York) alumni
People from New York City
Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua
Ambassadors of the United States to Uruguay
United States Foreign Service personnel
National War College alumni