A native of Los Angeles, Jonathan D. Farrar was confirmed as ambasador to Nicaragua on March 29, 2012. He previously served as the Chief of Mission of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, beginning in July 2008.

 

He studied at California State Polytechnic University Pomona, Claremont Graduate School and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

 

Farrar joined the State Department in 1980 as an economic officer and is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.

 

Farrar has held a variety of domestic assignments in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, including service as deputy director of the Office of Andean Affairs and as country desk officer for Argentina. Farrar served twice on the staff of the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, most recently as chief of staff to the Under Secretary from 2002 to 2004.

 

Farrar’s career includes extensive experience in Latin America. His most recent overseas posting was as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Montevideo, Uruguay. Farrar also served at the US embassies in Mexico, Belize, and Paraguay.

 

From 2004 to 2005, Farrar served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau (INL), with responsibility for INL’s programs in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, Asia and Europe.

 

Farrar then served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and was DRL’s acting assistant secretary from August 2007 to March 2008. In this capacity, Farrar oversaw DRL’s human rights and democracy programs around the world, with a particular focus on Asia and the Western Hemisphere.