Larry Leon Palmer (July 13, 1949 – April 21, 2021) was an American former diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean from 2012 to 2015.. He was the

United States Ambassador to Honduras The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Honduras. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.'' See also * H ...

from 2002 to 2005. He also served as the President of the

Inter-American Foundation The Inter-American Foundation, or IAF, is an independent agency of the United States government that funds community-led development in Latin America and the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas cent ...

from 2005 to June 2010.

br>IAF's New President Begins

Background

Larry Palmer was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. He graduated from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

with a B.A. in 1970 and completed his graduate training at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

(M.Ed., African History, 1973) and

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

(Ed.D., Higher Education Administration and African Studies, 1978). While at Emory, he was a member of the

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as Pike is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and provisional chapters across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate mem ...

fraternity.

Career

Palmer served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, West Africa from 1971 to 1973. He then worked as assistant director of financial aid at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (1973–1974), and as a professor of history at Cuttington College in Suakoko, Liberia (1974–1976), and at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1978–1981). Palmer entered the

U.S. Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

in 1982. He served as vice consul in the Dominican Republic (1982–1984), and then as personnel officer in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Asuncion, Paraguay, from 1984 to 1986. He worked in the State Department as staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs from 1986 to 1987 and then served as counselor for administration in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 1987 to 1989.White House, 5 June 2002
President Bush to Nominate Seven Individuals to Serve in His Administration
/ref> In 1989, Palmer became a Pearson Fellow, serving as assistant to the president of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

at El Paso. His portfolio was advancing the

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...

(NAFTA), creating faculty and student exchange opportunities in universities throughout Mexico, and serving as university consultant for International Affairs. At the end of two years as a Pearson Fellow, Palmer left to serve as personnel officer in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, (1991–1994), and later served as counselor for administration in the Dominican Republic (1994–1998). From 1998 to 1999, he attended the Senior Seminar. He arrived in Quito, Ecuador to begin a tour as Deputy Chief of Mission in August 1999. He finished his tour in Quito as Chargé d'Affaires In July 2002.

Honduras, Venezuela and Eastern Caribbean

Palmer was sworn in as

on September 9, 2002, by Secretary of State

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

and delivered his credentials to the Honduran President Ricardo Maduro on October 9, 2002. On June 28, 2010, President Obama nominated Palmer as

United States Ambassador to Venezuela The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Venezuela. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.'' The a ...

. However, a start date as new ambassador to Venezuela wasn't announced. On September 19, 2010, President Hugo Chávez announced on his weekly TV program that he would not allow Larry Palmer to take up his post in Caracas. Chávez's refusal is based on Palmer having recently told a US senator that morale in the Venezuelan army was low and that members of Chávez's government had ties to leftist Colombian rebels. On December 28, 2010, Chavez defied the Obama administration's appointment of Palmer as ambassador to Venezuela and flatly refused him, accusing him of having made disrespectful remarks about Venezuela. In response, on December 29 the U.S. revoked the

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

of Venezuela's ambassador,

Bernardo Álvarez Herrera Bernardo Álvarez Herrera ( Carora, Lara State, 18 August 1956 – 25 November 2016) was Venezuela's ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2010 (with an interruption from mid-2008 to mid-2009, when Venezuela withdrew its ambassador) and Dep ...

. Palmer was appointed to serve as the United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean in 2012. In this post, he served concurrently as the ambassador to

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

, and

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

References