The United States has a new chargé d'affaires in Port-au-Prince.
The United States has a new Chargé d'Affaires in Port-au-Prince. Ambassador Henry Wooster, whose appointment was announced on May 30 by the State Department, was announced. The U.S. Embassy announced Ambassador Wooster's arrival in Port-au-Prince on social media Saturday morning. "The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince welcomes Ambassador Wooster as its new Chargé d'Affaires. With a distinguished career, including assignments in Haiti, France, Iraq, Pakistan, Georgia, various postings in Washington, D.C., and an ambassadorial role in Jordan, Ambassador Wooster will lead a whole-of-government approach to U.S. policy in Haiti. Restoring stability will be his priority," the announcement reads.
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The day before, the U.S. Embassy had announced and welcomed the departure of his predecessor, Ambassador Dennis B. Hankins. "We are grateful for his unwavering dedication to the United States and his support for Haiti. The Embassy team wishes him well in his retirement after more than four decades of distinguished service as a career diplomat," wrote the Embassy, which also quoted Mr. Hankins's remarks.
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"As my time as Ambassador comes to an end, I wish to take a moment to express my gratitude to the Haitian people. From my first visit to Haiti in 1991 to my experience as Ambassador, I will take with me the hospitality and warmth of the Haitian people, as well as the richness of Haitian culture. We thank the Embassy staff and our Haitian and international partners for their support,” said Ambassador Hankins.
Dennis B. Hankins has served in some of the most challenging postings in the world, including Sudan and the Congo. He served as Ambassador to Mali and Guinea.
Hankins has worked in the U.S. Foreign Service for over 30 years. He served three times as Deputy Chief of Mission in Sudan, Mauritania, and Mozambique; Principal Officer in Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Consul General in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hankins also served as Political and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Portugal and Chief of the Political Section in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before becoming ambassador to Haiti, he previously served there as chief of the nonimmigrant visa section and refugee coordinator.
Henry Wooster, his replacement in Port-au-Prince, had served as principal assistant secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. He served as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from September 2020 to July 2023, and prior to his ambassadorship, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Maghreb and Egypt. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Previously, he served as deputy chief of mission in Paris and as chargé d'affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, according to a biography on the State Department website.
He was a political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. He also served as director for Central Asia at the National Security Council and as foreign policy advisor to the commanding general of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command. Acting Assistant Secretary for Iran; Director of the Bureau of Iranian Affairs; Deputy Director of the Bureau of Provincial Affairs at Embassy Baghdad; Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary Jack Lew; Deputy Director of the Bureau of Iranian Affairs; Officer-in-Charge of the Iran Bureau; Political Officer at Embassy Moscow; Executive Officer at the U.S. Mission to NATO; Officer-in-Charge of the Bureau of Russian Affairs; Consul at Embassy Port-au-Prince; and Political Officer at Embassy Tbilisi.
Before joining the Foreign Service, Henry Wooster was an Army officer. He holds an M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Amherst.
USA-Haiti: One ambassador leaves, another arrives
