William Rivington Brownfield (born 1952) is a

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Se ...

in the

United States 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 carry ...

and the former

Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...

for the

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is an agency that reports to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights within the Department of State. Under the umbrella of its general mis ...

as of January 10, 2011. He has previously served as U.S. Ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and Colombia.

Biography

A career Foreign Service Officer, William Brownfield was

United States Ambassador to Colombia The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Colombia and its predecessor states. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Mi ...

. He arrived in Colombia on August 31, 2007, and was accredited by Colombian President

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He held offices in t ...

on September 12, 2007. On August 3, 2010, the United States confirmed Peter Michael McKinley as the new ambassador to Colombia. Prior to arriving in Colombia, Brownfield was Ambassador to Venezuela, and before that

. Ambassador Brownfield's first assignment after joining the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1979 was in

Maracaibo, Venezuela ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

. His other overseas postings include service as Counselor for Humanitarian Affairs in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, and assignments in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and El Salvador. He was temporarily assigned as Political Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

1989–1990. In

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Ambassador Brownfield's assignments have included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere (WHA), Director for Policy in the

, Executive Assistant in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Member of the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff, and Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. Ambassador Brownfield is a graduate of St. Andrew's School (1970),

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

(1974) and the National War College (1993); he also attended the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

(1976–1978).

Chávez attacks

In a nationally televised speech on April 9, 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez threatened to expel Brownfield for "provoking the Venezuelan people." Chávez said "Start packing your bags, mister - if you keep on provoking us, start packing your bags, because I'll kick you out of here." On January 25, 2007, Brownfield was again threatened with expulsion by President Chávez. Chávez was responding to Brownfield's comments on the planned nationalization of several Venezuelan companies in which US companies are minority shareholders.

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Starting on January 10, 2011, Brownfield served as

for the

.United States Department of State
/ref> In August 2017, he announced his intent to retire by the end of September. During his career, Brownfield received the

Secretary's Distinguished Service Award The Secretary's Distinguished Service Award is an award of the United States Department of State. It is presented at the discretion of the Secretary of State in recognition of exceptionally outstanding leadership, professional competence, and sig ...

and was a three-time recipient of the Presidential Performance Award.

Personal life

Brownfield is married to Ambassador Kristie Kenney, former Counselor of the State Department. He speaks

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

with a pronounced Texas accent and French.

References

External links

State Department Biography page (Assistant Secretary)

Interview with William Brownfield
*

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brownfield, William Rivington 1952 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Chile Ambassadors of the United States to Colombia Ambassadors of the United States to Venezuela Cornell University alumni People from Austin, Texas University of Texas School of Law alumni United States Career Ambassadors United States Assistant Secretaries of State United States Foreign Service personnel