Ambassador Hugo Llorens (Ret.)
Last Name: Llorens
First Name: Hugo
ACNSL Offices and Committees: INDO-PACOM Strategic Committee
Rank: Senior Foreign Service
Service/Department: U.S. Department of State
Medals and Honors:
5 Superior and 8 Meritorious Awards.
Cobb Award for Excellence in supporting U.S. business.
Last or Significant Assignment: Special Charge D’Affaires Ambassador to Afghanistan
Areas of Experience: Australia, Counter-terrorism, Domestic Terrorism, Europe and the E.U., Foreign Development Aid, International Law, International Relations and Diplomacy, International Trade and Sanctions, South and Central America, Terrorist Groups, Treaties and Negotiations
Hugo Llorens is a retired (December 31, 2017) U.S. Ambassador. He currently makes his home in Marco Island, Florida. On a part-time basis, he does international business and security affairs consulting. Llorens provides advice to U.S. and international firms on political, trade and investment matters pertaining to markets in Latin America, Europe, South Asia and the Western Pacific. He utilizes his 36 years of diplomatic experience and leverages his network of global contacts to enhance his clients’ business prospects. He also does public speaking on leadership and foreign affairs issues, and is currently writing a book about his diplomatic experiences.
In 2016-2017, Llorens served as the Special Charge D’Affaires and Chief of Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan. In Kabul he led the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with a staff of 8,500 U.S., Afghan and Third Country National employees representing 22 U.S. government agencies. During his tenure in Afghanistan, Llorens spearheaded the U.S. diplomatic effort in a priority conflict-ridden nation in both the Obama and Trump Administrations. He worked closely with the incoming Trump national security team in developing a new strategic approach towards Afghanistan that encompasses governance, military and security, development and trade and investment components.
Prior to his tenure in Afghanistan (2013-2016), Llorens was the principal officer in Sydney, Australia, the United States’ oldest diplomatic mission in the Asia Pacific region (established in 1836). In Sydney he served as the lead U.S. diplomat responsible for promoting trade and investment and managing U.S. ties with the vast and resource-rich states of New South Wales and Queensland. Llorens was also the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from May 2012 to June a 2013.
Llorens served as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from September 2008 to July 2011. In Tegucigalpa he was a key Administration player in managing the Honduran coup crisis of 2009. Prior to his nomination and confirmation as Ambassador, he served for two years as the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the American Embassy in Madrid, where he took up his duties on September 1, 2006. Llorens was also Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he served for three years from August 2003 until July 2006.
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 from Georgetown University in 1977.
He is married to Lisett Aparicio Llorens, and they have two sons, Andrew and Dirk.
