Brian Nichols is African-American, has more than 30 years of experience in diplomacy and is currently the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe.
Joe Biden has appointed Brian Nichols, a career diplomat, as Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere.
Nichols is African-American, has more than 30 years of experience in diplomacy and is currently the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe. Prior to this position, he was in El Salvador, where he served as a political officer for the US Embassy.
Nichols has extensive experience in Latin America. He was the United States Ambassador to Peru and held various diplomatic and consular positions in the hemisphere throughout his career. In addition, he worked in the office in charge of combating drug trafficking in El Salvador and Mexico and was number two at the embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.
According to Mark Feierstein, a former official of the Barack Obama administration who is closely following US-region relations, this is “an excellent decision for the Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere. He is nice, a very skilled diplomat, who knows the region well “, he said.
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Adam Isaacson, of the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA) think tank, supported what Feierstein said. In his opinion, Nichols “is a nominated asset for Undersecretary of State. When he was head of mission in Bogotá, Colombia, he showed a real interest in human rights and led efforts to promote negotiations between the government and the FARC and helped release the hostages. “
Among the many challenges Nichols will face is tackling the causes of illegal immigration, as well as drug trafficking, democracy and the rule of law in the region.
In addition to his track record in foreign policy, in 2020 he was a fierce critic of police brutality and racism in his country. He even joined the Black Lives Matter initiative, which sometimes made him go against rhetoric.
If confirmed, he would be the first African-American undersecretary of state for Latin America in more than four decades.
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