Heflin, Donald L., 1958-

Donald L. Heflin (born 1958) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Cape Verde from January 2015 to September 2018.

The son of Walter and Alice Heflin, Heflin was born in Leesburg, Virginia, but grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, graduating from Butler High School in 1976. He attended Birmingham-Southern College, earning B.A. degrees in political science and religion in 1980. He then went on to law school at the University of Alabama, graduating with a J.D. in 1983. After finishing school, he worked as a lawyer in Huntsville and Mobile, Alabama, until joining the Foreign Service in 1987. He was first posted to Lima, Peru and then, in 1990, to Madras, India. In 1992, Heflin was moved to be deputy principal officer in Hermosillo, Mexico and the next year, in his first African posting, he was assigned to the embassy in Lusaka, Zambia as consul.

Heflin was recalled to Washington in 1995 as desk officer for Rwanda and Burundi and two years later to be the coordination division officer in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

In 1999, Heflin was again posted overseas as a consul in the embassy in London, United Kingdom, staying there until 2004, when he returned to the USA to work as Deputy Director for the Office of West African Affairs. While in that post, Heflin worked as acting Director for a time.

Heflin returned to Mexico in 2009 to work as principal officer and Consul General in Nuevo Laredo. Heflin left Mexico for another stint in Washington in 2012, when he started as the managing director of the Consular Affairs Visa Office. He remained in this post until he was nominated for the ambassadorship for Cape Verde in June 2014.

Heflin testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July 2014 and was confirmed by Senate voice vote as the United States Ambassador to Cape Verde on the 12 December 2014. He begun his duties in Praia on 29 January the next year. Heflin presented his credentials to Jorge Carlos Fonseca, the President of Cape Verde on 5 February 2015.

Heflin left the post in early September 2018 and was succeeded by Marissa Scott as chargée d'affairs and in 2019 by Jeff Daigle, the new Ambassador. Heflin serves as Minister-Counselor for Consular and Consulate Affairs in Mexico, overseeing the nine American Consulates in the country.