Robinson, Todd D., 1963-

<p>On July 10, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Todd D. Robinson on his nomination by President Barack Obama to be the next U.S. ambassador to Guatemala. It would be the first ambassadorial post for Robinson, a career Foreign Service officer, but it is not his first posting to Guatemala.</p>

<p>Robinson is from Fanwood, New Jersey and graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1981. He went on to attend Georgetown University, earning a B.S. in Foreign Service in 1985. Robinson’s first job out of college was as a journalist. He joined the State Department in 1986.</p>

<p>Most of Robinson’s career has been spent in Latin America. His first overseas postings were to Colombia in 1987 and El Salvador in 1989, returning to Washington in 1991 to serve as a watch officer at the State Department operations center. Robinson was sent to Rome in 1993 as staff assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Italy. In 1995, he moved across town to the U.S. mission to the Holy See (Vatican City), serving as political officer.</p>

<p>Robinson was sent back to Latin America in 1997 as political officer at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. He came home in 1999 as special assistant to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In 2000, Robinson was named deputy counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. He was sent back to Europe in 2004 as chief of the Political and Economic Section in the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania.</p>

<p>Robinson was named consul general in Barcelona, Spain in 2006. In 2009, Robinson was sent to Guatemala as deputy chief of mission, serving there until 2011. He then returned to Washington as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, beginning in June 2011.</p>

<p>In his confirmation hearing, Robinson was closely questioned, particularly from Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), on the flow of undocumented children from Guatemala into the United States. Robinson replied that it would be among his highest priorities to address that issue with the Guatemalan government.</p>

<p>Robinson speaks Spanish, Italian and Albanian.</p>

<p>Todd D. Robinson (born c. 1963) is an American diplomat who currently works as a Senior Advisor for Central America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.</p>

<p>He was, until being expelled in May 2018, the charge d'affairs of the U.S. embassy in Venezuela. He was previously the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala from 2014 to 2017.</p>

<p>Raised in Fanwood, New Jersey, Robinson graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1981 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1985 from Georgetown University.</p>

<p>Robinson can speak Spanish, Italian and Albanian.</p>

<p>Robinson joined the State Department in 1986, with his first postings to Colombia (in 1987) and El Salvador (in 1989). He returned to Washington in 1991, to work as watch officer at the operations center of the State Department. In 1993, Robinson was assigned to Rome, Italy as staff assistant to the ambassador at the time, Reginald Bartholomew and two years later was moved across the city to work as the political officer at the Embassy in Vatican City.</p>

<p>1997 saw Robinson return to Latin America to work as political officer in the La Paz embassy, Bolivia until he was recalled in 1999 for a post as special assistant to the then Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. The next year, he was sent to the Dominican Republic as deputy counselor for Political and Economic Affairs.</p>

<p>After four years at the embassy in Santo Domingo, Robinson was again posted to Europe to work as chief of the Political and Economic Section of the Albanian embassy in Tirana. Two years later, Robinson left to work as consul general at the consulate in Barcelona, Spain.</p>

<p>In 2009, he was posted to Guatemala as deputy chief of mission. He stayed until June 2011, when he was recalled to work in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Washington.</p>

<p>He was nominated for the ambassadorship of Guatemala by President Obama and confirmed on September 16, 2014. He arrived in Guatemala City on October 10 the same year.</p>

<p>In December 2017, Robinson was reassigned by President Trump to be charge d'affairs en pied at the embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. In January 2018, Robinson attempted to obtain the release of American citizen, Joshua Holt who had been jailed in the country by meeting with Venezuelan foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza. On 22 May the same year, Robinson and his deputy, Brian Naranjo were expelled from the country as persona non grata by Nicolas Maduro, the newly re-elected president. Days later, Joshua Holt was freed and allowed to return to the USA.</p>

<p>Ambassador Robinson serves as Senior Advisor for Central America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in Washington, DC. Ambassador Robinson was previously Charge d’Affaires in Caracas, Venezuela from December 18, 2017 to May 22, 2018, when he was expelled by President Maduro. He was previously U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Guatemala from September 16, 2014, to September 20, 2017. Ambassador Robinson is a career diplomat with the rank of Minister Counselor.</p>

<p>Ambassador Robinson previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. From 2009 until 2011, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. Prior to that, he was Consul General and Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Barcelona, Spain and Chief of the Political and Economic Section in the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania. Other overseas postings include the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Vatican City, Italy, El Salvador, and Colombia. In Washington, DC, Ambassador Robinson served in the Department’s Operations Center and as a Special Assistant to former Secretary of State Albright. He is the recipient of two Department Superior Honor Awards.</p>

<p>A native of New Jersey, Ambassador Robinson was a professional journalist before joining the Foreign Service. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Class of 1985.</p>