Czech Republic

Hynek Kmoníček presented his credentials to become ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States on April 24, 2017. Before his appointment and since 2013, Ambassador Kmoníček was the director of the Foreign Affairs Department in the Office of the President of the Czech Republic. His diplomatic career has spanned more than two decades since he joined the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, specifically its Department for Middle East and Africa, in 1995. His positions include director of the North Africa and Middle East Department; director-general for Asia, Africa and America; and deputy foreign minister during two different periods (1999-2001 and 2009-10). He also served as ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Nations in New York (2001-06), as well as to India (2006-09) and Australia (2011-13). Before joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Kmoníček studied English and Arabic at Charles University in Prague, as well as Middle East modern history and Hebrew and Arabic language studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Born in 1962 in Pardubice, Ambassador Kmoníček is married with four children. He enjoys cooking ethnic cuisine, collecting the hottest sauces on the planet and writing for various magazines and newspapers.

Kazakhstan

Erzhan Kazykhanov presented his credentials to become ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States on April 24, 2017, having previously served as Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Prior to that, he held the position of assistant to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan since 2012 and minister of foreign affairs since 2011. Ambassador Kazykhanov also served as deputy minister of foreign affairs; ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria; permanent Rrepresentative of Kazakhstan to the international organizations in Vienna; and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. Born on Aug. 21, 1964, in Almaty, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Oriental studies from the Saint Petersburg State University in Russia in 1987. He also holds a Ph.D. in history from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Ambassador Kazykhanov is the author of numerous articles on Kazakhstan’s foreign policy issues, multilateral diplomacy and the role of the United Nations. He speaks Russian, English and Arabic, and he is married with two children.

Malawi

Margaret Mioanza Gadabu assumed the position of counselor/head of chancery on Feb. 10, 2017, replacing Rhino Mchenga, who departed the post of head of chancery in January. Gadabu previously served a principle Foreign Service Officer in the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Mexico

Gerónimo Gutiérrez presented his credentials to become ambassador of Mexico to the United States on April 24, 2017. Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernandez served as managing director of the North American Development Bank (NADB) headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, where he focused on infrastructure development and financing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Under his leadership, NADB grew its loan portfolio at an average annual rate of 32 percent, reaching $1.4 billion in 2016. With a diverse 15-year career in the Mexican federal government, Ambassador Gutierrez previously served in prominent positions in the areas of trade, finance, diplomacy and national security under four presidents. In 2009 and 2010, he was deputy secretary for governance and homeland security; he was also part of the National Security Council’s Executive Committee. From 2006 to 2009, he served as undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (State Department). In that capacity, Gutierrez was responsible for normalizing the Mexico-Cuba relationship following a period of strained relations, as well as the re-establishment of ambassadors with Venezuela. He led Mexico’s negotiations with Mesoamerican countries (Mexico to Colombia) for the creation of the Mesoamerican Project (Proyecto Mesoamerica), a multilateral cooperation mechanism for the development of regional infrastructure. As undersecretary for North America, from 2003 to 2006, he coordinated day-to-day trilateral and bilateral affairs with Mexico’s North American partners (United States and Canada) and supervised the operations of over 50 Mexican consular offices in the region. He led negotiations for the creation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership for North America (SPP) — a prelude to the present day North American Leaders Summit — and also worked closely with other agencies on border and regional security cooperation with the U.S. and Canada. Ambassador Gutierrez has also held other federal government positions as undersecretary of governance in the Secretaría de Gobernación (Interior Ministry); secretaría de economía (Commerce Department); secretaría de hacienda y crédito público (Treasury Department); and positions in the Office of the President and Banobras (Mexico’s national public works bank). On the political front, he worked as part of President-elect Vicente Fox’s transition team; as director of the Miguel Estrada Iturbide Foundation, the think tank wing of Mexico’s center-right PAN party; and as chief of staff of the party’s Parliamentary Group. Ambassador Gutierrez holds both bachelor’s degrees in economics and in political science from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a master’s in public Aadministration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, for which he received a Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scholarship.

Mozambique

Aristides Adriano assumed the position of minister counselor on March 1, 2017, replacing Eduardo Zaqueu, who departed the post on March 17. Adriano previously served minister counselor at the Embassy of Mozambique in Vietnam (2012-16) and personal assistant to the minister of foreign affairs and cooperation in Maputo, Mozambique (2012-16).

Pakistan

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry presented his credentials to become ambassador of Pakistan to the United States on April 24, 2017. A member of the Pakistani Foreign Service with 36 years of bilateral and multilateral experience, Ambassador Chaudhry previously served as foreign secretary of Pakistan from December 2013 to March 2017. Prior to this, he served as spokesman of the Foreign Office. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served as additional foreign secretary for U.N. and disarmament affairs, as well as director-general for relations with South Asian countries, working closely on the peace process with India. Overseas, he served as ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands; deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in New York; chef de cabinet to the secretary-general of ECO in Tehran; and postings in Pakistani embassies in Washington, D.C., Doha and Cairo. He also authored the book “Pakistan mirrored to Dutch eyes” published by Sangemeel publications. Ambassador Chaudhry, who was born in 1958, holds a master’s degree in international relations from Tufts University and a first-class first bachelor’s of science from Punjab University in Lahore. He is married with three children.

PLO

Husam Zomlot, advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas for strategic affairs, was sworn in on March 7, 2017, as head of the General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United States. He previously served as ambassador-at-large for the Palestinian presidency and chargé d’affaires of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom. He was recently elected to the Fatah Council as director of its Foreign Relations Commission. Prior to that, Representative Zomlot was a professor of public policy at Birzeit University and co-founded and chaired the Birzeit School of Government. He held teaching and research positions at Harvard University and the University of London. In addition, he worked as an economist for the United Nations, as well as an economic researcher at the London School of Economics and the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Eeconomics from the University of London and is married with two children.

Qatar

Sheikh Meshal Bin Hamad Al Thani presented his credentials to become ambassador of Qatar to the United States on April 24, 2017, having previously served as Qatari ambassador to France from November 2013 to October 2016. Prior to that, Ambassador Al Thani served as the permanent representative of Qatar to the United Nations in New York from July 2011 to October 2013, working with the U.N. to promote Qatar’s 2030 National Vision, as well as ambassador to Brussels from October 2007 to July 2011, during which time he chaired the Qatari Mission to the EU. He was also Qatari liaison with NATO, as a member of the Qatari diplomatic mission in Brussels (November 2004-July 2007). Additional postings include the Qatari Embassy in D.C. (October 2000-October 2004) and the Qatari Mission to the U.N. (August 1998-September 2000). A career member of the Senior Foreign Service since March 2009, Ambassador Al Thani began his diplomatic career in the Department of European and American Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (May 1997-August 1998). Ambassador Al Thani received his master’s in international relations from the American University in D.C. in 2004. He is married with three children.

Spain

Pedro Morenés presented his credentials to become ambassador of Spain to the United States on April 24, 2017, having previously served as minister of defense since 2011. He has also served as deputy minister of defense, deputy minister of security and deputy minister of science and technology policy. In addition, Ambassador Morenés was a member of the maritime law firm AMYA; a lawyer for the Astilleros Españoles company; director of legal services for the Division of Naval Construction at the National Industrial Institute; secretary of legal matters and the Council of Astilleros Españoles and Astilleros de Talleres del Noroeste; and commercial director of the Naval Construction Division of the National Industrial Institute. Other positions include secretary-general of the Círculo de Empresarios Business Circle, president of the Board of Directors of Construcción Navales del Norte and president of MBDA España and Segur Ibérica. Ambassador Morenés, who was born in Las Arenas in the province of Biscay in 1948, holds a bachelor’s of law from the University of Navarre and a master’s degree in ship management and economics from the Bremen Institute of Shipping Economics.