The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - July 2004

Guatemala
• Jose Guillermo Castillo Villacorta became the ambassador of Guatemala to the United States on March 31. Ambassador Castillo previously served as minister (1999-2000) and vice minister of economy in charge of trade issues (1998-99). While serving as a delegate of the Ministry of Economy, he also coordinated and completed negotiations for a free trade agreement with Mexico (1996-2000). Before working in the public sector, Ambassador Castillo worked in banking, insurance and bonds as well as the industrial and commercial sectors in both Guatemala and abroad. In addition, Ambassador Castillo has directed various companies, and he held such posts as vice president of strategic planning at Cervecería Centroamericana, vice chairman, director and treasurer of the Guatemalan Chamber of Industry, coordinator of the Economic Commission, director of the Business Council for the International Trade Negotiations, and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Competitiveness Program. Ambassador Castillo also taught courses in business strategy, world political and economic order, and international trade and marketing at private universities in Guatemala. Ambassador Castillo earned a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala. A Fulbright scholarship grantee, he holds a master’s of business administration degree from Northwestern University. He is married to Flor de María Palacios with four children.

Kenya
• Leonard Ngaithe became ambassador of Kenya to the United States on May 24. Ambassador Ngaithe, who has been a career diplomat since 1981, previously served as Kenya’s ambassador to the Netherlands with accreditation to the Czech Republic (2000-04) and as acting high commissioner in London (1999-2000). Ambassador Ngaithe replaces Yusuf A. Nzibo, who departed the post on May 7 to serve in the Kenyan Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Lesotho
• Motheba Moeletsi assumed the position of counselor on June 1, replacing Retselisitsoe D. Moea, who departed the post on April 28.

Peru
• Eduardo Ferrero Costa became ambassador of Peru to the United States on March 31. Ambassador Ferrero previously served as ambassador and permanent representative to the Organization of American States (2001-04), a senior partner at Estudio Echecopar Law Firm (1999-2001), Peru’s minister of foreign affairs (1997-98), and vice president and member of the U.N. Committee Against Racial Discrimination (1988-2000). He was also a founding member and executive president of the Peruvian Center for International Studies (1980-98) and senior partner at the Eduardo Ferrero Costa Law Firm (1980-95). In addition, he has worked as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris (2000-02), an adviser to the Andean community (1999-2000) and to the Peruvian Delegation for Border Negotiation with Ecuador (1996-97), and president of the Peruvian Commission for the Pacific Basin and member of the Board of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (1995-92). Ambassador Ferrero has been a professor in both Peru and the United States and is the author and editor of 19 books and more than 50 academic articles. Ambassador Ferrero, who holds a law degree and a doctorate in law, studied at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, San Diego. He is married to Verónica Diaz de Ferrero with four children.

Romania
• Ovidiu Ierulescu assumed the position of second secretary on May 14. Ierulescu previously served as attaché and third secretary at the Romanian Permanent Mission to the United Nations (1998-2002).