Hugo Llorens (born September 7, 1954) is a retired American diplomat. He is a former U.S. Special Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, (2016–17) and United States Ambassador to Honduras (2008–2011). In his 36-year career he was posted to numerous countries spanning 6 continents. In 2002–2003, he joined the White House staff and served as Director of Andean Affairs advising the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.
Background
Born in Cuba in 1954, Llorens came to the United States at the age of seven
in April 1962 as part of Operation Peter Pan.
Education
Llorens earned a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University in 1977. He then went on to receive a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England in 1980. In 1997 he was awarded a Master of Science in National Security Studies from the National War College.
Pre-State Department career
Llorens worked as an Assistant Treasurer at the Chase Manhattan Bank, International Division, New York City, before joining the United States Department of State in 1981.
Diplomatic career
Llorens served as Deputy Director of the Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, in which capacity he "contributed to the launch of the historic Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations in 1998". From 1999 to 2002 Llorens served for three years as Principal Officer at the United States Consulate General in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. During his tenure in Vancouver he created a novel Law Enforcement Hub and opened FBI, Secret Service, ATF, DEA and legacy Customs and Immigration offices at the Consulate. The establishment of the Hub led to a significant enhancement of U.S. and Canadian coordination in the fight against organized crime and terrorism. Llorens was also the senior U.S. official in British Columbia during the January 1, 2000 arrest of Millennium Bomber Ahmed Ressam in Washington state.
In 2002 and 2003, he served in Washington, D.C., as Director of Andean Affairs at the National Security Council. There he was the principal advisor to the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. As National Security Council Director he drafted and managed inter-agency coordination for a new U.S. policy approach on Colombia (NSPD-18) in the wake of the election of President Uribe. Llorens also managed the successful official visits to Washington of President Toledo (Peru), President Sanchez de Lozada (Bolivia), President Uribe (Colombia), and President Gutierrez (Ecuador).
Following his tenure on the White House staff, Llorens was Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, until July 2006. In Argentina he was a lead player in Bush Administration efforts to assist Argentina restore political stability and recover from a massive economic and financial crisis caused by the collapse of the Peso Convertability scheme. Beginning September 2006, Llorens served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Madrid. In Spain he worked closely with U.S. and Spanish military and defense authorities to ensure that Spain served as an effective logistical hub for U.S. military aircraft supplying military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In 2008, President George W. Bush nominated Llorens to be U.S. Ambassador to Honduras. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2008 and in August was sworn-in by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Llorens presented his credentials as Ambassador to the government President Manuel Zelaya Rosales on September 19, 2008. In describing the looming Honduran political crisis, Llorens publicly declared - in reference to President Manuel Zelaya's planned referendum on a proposed constitutional assembly - that: