Biography

Photo of Hugo Llorens
Hugo Llorens
Ambassador
Honduras
Term of Appointment: 09/19/2008 to present

Hugo Llorens presented his credentials as Ambassador of the United States of America to Honduras to President Manuel Zelaya Rosales on September 19, 2008. Mr. Llorens was confirmed as Ambassador-designate to Honduras in April 2008. Prior to his position as Ambassador, Mr. Llorens served as the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the American Embassy in Madrid, where he took up his duties on September 1, 2006. He is a career Foreign Service Officer who joined the Department of State in 1981. His most recent assignment was as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he served for 3 years from August 2003 until July 2006.

From 2002-2003, Mr. Llorens served in Washington, DC, as the Director of Andean Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). At the NSC he was the principal advisor to the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Prior to the NSC, Mr. Llorens served for 3 years as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver, Canada. In Canada, he managed some of the most contentious trade issues, including softwood lumber. In Vancouver, he created a novel multi-agency “Law Enforcement Hub” that included the opening of FBI, ATF, U.S. Customs, Secret Service, and State Department Regional Security offices at the consulate to work with Canadian counterparts on counterterrorism and international crime investigations.

Before being assigned to Vancouver, Mr. Llorens served as Deputy Director of the Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. In that capacity Mr. Llorens played an important role in the launch of the historic Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations in 1998. As a member of the U.S. Foreign Service for 25 years, he has had an extensive diplomatic career serving in such varied capacities as economic counselor in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; economic officer in La Paz, Bolivia; commercial attaché in Asunción, Paraguay; narcotics coordinator in San Salvador, El Salvador; and consular officer in Manila, Philippines. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Llorens worked as an Assistant Treasurer at the Chase Manhattan Bank, International Division, New York.

Mr. Llorens received his Master of Science in National Security Studies, National War College in 1997; Master of Arts in Economics, University of Kent at Canterbury, England in 1980; and Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University in 1977.

He has earned three Superior and six Meritorious Awards. He is a past recipient of the prestigious Cobb Award for excellence in the promotion of U.S. business and trade policy, was runner-up for the Saltzman Award for distinguished performance in advancing U.S. international economic interests, and was runner-up for the James Baker award for the best DCM.

He speaks Spanish, Tagalog, and some French.