Stephen G. McFarland
| Stephen G. McFarland | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Ambassador to Guatemala | |
|
In office 30 June 2008 – 25 August 2011 |
|
| President |
George W. Bush Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | James M. Derham |
| Succeeded by | Arnold A. Chacón |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 21, 1954 Tarrant County, Texas |
Stephen George McFarland (born December 21, 1954, Tarrant County, Texas) is an American career diplomat and former United States Ambassador to Guatemala (from June 2008 to August 2011).
The son of a diplomat, George Albert McFarland Jr., Ambassador McFarland grew up in Latin America and the Middle East, as well as in central Texas and suburban Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt American School in Lima, Peru, Yale University, and the U.S. Air War College. He also attended the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course.
Mr. McFarland speaks fluent Spanish and some Guarani, and he is currently studying K'iche', the second most widely spoken language in Guatemala after Spanish.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1977, and was subsequently posted to Maracaibo, Venezuela. He has served in a series of assignments in Latin America focusing on U.S. support for democratic transitions, human rights, and security.
He has held positions including political officer in Ecuador and Peru, desk officer for Nicaragua, and political counselor in El Salvador, Bolivia, and Peru. He was the U.S. member of the interim cease-fire monitoring group on the Peru-Ecuador border in 1995, following the Cenepa War. He later served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and the Chargé d'Affaires in both Paraguay and Guatemala, as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Venezuela, and as the Director of Cuban Affairs in the Department of State.
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