US Senate confirms new ambassador to Colombia
By Daniel Brody, Editorial Director
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate on Tuesday approved Peter Michael McKinley as the country's new ambassador to Colombia.
He replaces William Brownfield, who had been ambassador since 2007.
In his testimony at a congressional hearing earlier this year, McKinley said his priorities as ambassador would be strengthening human rights protections in Colombia, improving Colombian-Venezuelan relations, curbing drug trafficking, and encouraging free trade.
McKinley, who was born in Venezuela, has written published work about the colonial history of that country, and spent his childhood in Mexico, Brazil, and Spain. In addition to speaking fluent Spanish, he also speaks French, Portuguese, and English.
After earning a doctorate degree from Oxford University, he pursued a career in U.S. diplomacy, and was previously ambassador to Peru.
The new ambassador has also worked in various positions at the American embassies in Belgium, Uganda, and Mozambique, and was part of an American diplomatic delegation that worked with the European Union on matters related to business.
McKinley is married to Fatima Salces, who is Bolivian, and they have three children together.
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Colombian Culture
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