Whitaker, Kevin, 1957-

<p>Kevin Whitaker (born April 28, 1957) is a United States career diplomat who is the former United States Ambassador to Colombia. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 1, 2014, and sworn in on April 28, 2014.</p>

<p>Kevin Whitaker is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to Colombia, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.</p>

<p>Whitaker has served in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, where he was Deputy Chief of Mission (2005–07). In addition, he previously served in a number of positions at the Department of State, including as coordinator of the Office of Cuban Affairs (2002–05), Deputy Executive Secretary (2007–08), and director of the office of Andean affairs (2008–11).</p>

<p>During his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of ambassador to Colombia, Whitaker commented on the effects of the sack of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro on the peace process between the Colombian government and FARC. Colombian lawmakers criticized Whitaker's comments as an intervention in Colombian internal affairs.</p>

<p>In May 2014 Venezuelan officials claimed that Whitaker was personally involved in a U.S. attempt to destabilize the leftist government of President Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan government, which blamed the U.S. for protests in Venezuela, cited supposed emails from opposition lawmaker María Corina Machado stating that Whitaker had offered his support to the opposition. Maduro's government gave no information on how it acquired apparently private emails, and offered no evidence to support the authenticity of the emails. In a statement, the State Department called the accusations "baseless and false" and said: "We've seen many times that the Venezuelan government tries to distract from its own actions by blaming the United States." An expert in cybersecurity forensics said the emails used by the Venezuelan government to accuse the opposition of a plot were fake.</p>

<p>Whitaker was born in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. He is a graduate of Merritt Island High School, in Merritt Island, Florida. He received his degree in history from the University of Virginia in 1979.</p>

<p>On April 1, 2014, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of career Foreign Service officer Kevin Whitaker as ambassador to Colombia. Whitaker had been nominated for the post by President Barack Obama on September 19, 2013. He was sworn in on April 28.</p>

<p>The son of a career Army officer, Lt. Col. Malvern Whitaker, Kevin Whitaker attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a B.A. in 1979.</p>

<p>Whitaker joined the Foreign Service right out of college, beginning with a tour in London. Most of his experience has been in Latin America. His early assignments included serving as desk officer for El Salvador and France, as well as working as political officer in Jamaica and Honduras.</p>

<p>From 2002 to 2005, Whitaker headed the Cuban Affairs Desk for the State Department. During a visit to Havana in December 2002, he met with dissidents and was expelled by Fidel Castro’s government.</p>

<p>In 2005, he was named deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, another country with which the administration of President George W. Bush was at odds. Whitaker served there until 2007. At that point, he moved back to Washington to take a post as deputy executive secretary in the Office of the Secretary of State. In 2008, he was named director of the Office of Andean Affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.</p>

<p>In 2011, he was named deputy assistant secretary of state for South America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.</p>

<p>Whitaker created some controversy with a statement he made during his nomination hearing. The Colombian government fired the Bogotá mayor, and Whitaker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in response to a question that the firing could endanger peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC rebels. Some Colombians took offense, saying Whitaker was interfering in their country’s internal affairs.</p>

<p>Whitaker‘s wife, Elizabeth Whitaker, also worked in the State Department before moving to the private sector in 2008. They have three sons, Stuart, Thomas and Daniel.</p>