Category Archives: Diplomatic Life

U.S. Embassy Haiti Now on Mandatory Evacuation For Diplomatic Family Members Under the Age of 18, “Authorized Departure” Also On

February 13, 2019 By in Americans Abroad, Diplomatic Life, Evacuations, Foreign Service, Hotspots, Protests, Realities of the FS, Security, Spouses, State Department, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted: 1:45 am, EST

 

On February 12, the State Department issued a Level 3: Reconsider Travel for Haiti and announced the mandatory evacuation of family members under the age of 18 of U.S. personnel posted to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti. It also approved the “authorized departure” (voluntary evacuation) of adult family members and non-emergency U.S. personnel.

Travel Advisory: U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince (February 12, 2019)
Haiti – Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Reconsider travel to Haiti due to crime and civil unrest.

There are currently unpredictable and sporadic demonstrations in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in Haiti. Due to these demonstrations, on February 12, 2019, the Department of State ordered the departure of family members under the age of 18 of U.S. personnel posted to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, and approved the authorized departure of adult family members and non-emergency U.S. personnel.

Protests, tire burning, and road blockages are frequent and unpredictable. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, is common. Local police may lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents, and emergency response, including ambulance service, is limited or non-existent.

Travelers are sometimes targeted, followed, and violently attacked and robbed shortly after leaving the Port-au-Prince international airport. The U.S. Embassy requires its personnel to use official transportation to and from the airport, and it takes steps to detect surveillance and deter criminal attacks during these transports.

The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in some areas of Haiti. The Embassy discourages its personnel from walking in most neighborhoods. The Embassy prohibits its personnel from:

  • Visiting establishments after dark without secure, on-site parking;
  • Using any kind of public transportation or taxis;
  • Visiting banks and using ATMs;
  • Driving outside of Port-au-Prince at night;
  • Traveling anywhere between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.; and
  • Visiting certain parts of the city at any time without prior approval and special security measures in place.

See the full advisory and contact info here.

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US Embassy Venezuela Now on Mandatory Evacuation For Non-Emergency Staff and Family Members

January 25, 2019 By in Diplomacy, Diplomatic Life, Evacuations, Foreign Policy, Foreign Service, Hotspots, Huh? News, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Real Post of the Month, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Security, Spectacular, Spouses, State Department, Trump, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted: 8:37 pm PST

In the afternoon of January 24, the US Embassy in Caracas issued a Security Alert announcing the mandatory departure of non-emergency USG personnel from Venezuela:

On January 24, 2019, the State Department ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees to depart Venezuela.  The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Venezuela.  U.S. citizens should contact U.S. Embassy Caracas for consular assistance.  U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Venezuela should strongly consider departing Venezuela.  Commercial flights remain available.

Actions to Take:

Consider departing while commercial flights are available.
If choosing to stay, ensure you have adequate supplies to shelter in place.
Monitor local media for updates
Review personal security plans
Remain aware of surroundings

Assistance:

U.S. Embassy, Venezuela
https://ve.usembassy.gov/
For all inquiries about ACS services email acsvenezuela@state.gov or call +58 (212) 975-6411 between the hours of 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except U.S. and Venezuelan holidays.
For emergency assistance after hours call +58 (212) 907-8400

State Department – Consular Affairs
888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444

While the Security Alert does not specifically addressed USG family members at the US Embassy in Caracas, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to us that the ordered departure includes not just non-emergency direct-hire U.S. government personnel but also eligible family members of U.S. government personnel posted at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas. 

We were informed that the State Department is taking this action based on its “current assessment of the security situation in Venezuela“ and that it has “no plans to close the Embassy.”

Also that “The United States will maintain diplomatic relations with Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido, who has invited our mission to remain in Venezuela.”

We asked if there is a plan for USG-sponsored flights out of Venezuela and we were told that commercial flights remain available and that U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Venezuela should strongly consider departing the country.      

We should note that the host country government, in this case Venezuela’s is responsible for the safety of diplomatic personnel in country.  The State Department did not explain how Venezuela Interim President Guaido plans to protect the US Mission and personnel in Caracas given that he has no control over the military and security forces. 

The United States no longer recognizes the Maduro Government as the country’s legitimate government nor does it recognize its authority. So, whatever skeletal crew the US Embassy Caracas will keep, it will be in  country that has also declared our diplomats unwelcomed.  The United States has threatened appropriate action if the mission or US diplomats are harmed there, but that’s small comfort to the people in the crosshairs or loved ones watching this from afar.  

In the last 24 hours we have heard from folks using the words “bait” and “poker chips” to describe our people in Venezuela. Under the Trump Administration, Secretary Pompeo has declared the United States continuing diplomatic presence in Venezuela. Our diplomats will stay because they’re ordered to stay and they have a job to do. But what job is that exactly? Is there anyone in the 7th Floor who actually thinks Maduro will just sit back and watch when U.S. diplomats go about their business working with Interim President Guaido in Caracas? Really? 

On January 24,  also announced that the United States is ready to provide “more than $20 million in humanitarian aid to the people of Venezuela …to cope with food and medicine shortages and the other dire impacts of their country’s political & economic crisis.”

The State Department has yet to elaborate the logistics of sending humanitarian aid to a country with two presidents, one who actually still runs the country but the United States does not recognize, and the other who does not run the country but the United States do recognize.

And then this via the Caracas Chronicles:

If Maduro manages to hang on through the coming few weeks, the hemisphere will find itself in the very uncomfortable situation of having no interlocutor in Caracas. If Nicolás Maduro grabs Peruvian diplomatic facilities, who is the Peruvian Foreign minister going to call to protest, Guaidó? If the government expropriates Colombian company assets, what good does it do Duque to call Guaidó to protest? If an American Airlines jet gets impounded in Maiquetía, who does Pompeo bawl out? If Canadian citizens get thrown in jail on plainly made up spying charges, who is Chrystia Freeland supposed to complain about consular access to? Gustavo Tarre?

When this happens, what are you gonna do, Mike? Read more: Guaidó’s Diplomatic Rulebook Problem.

US Embassy Kinshasa Remains Closed to the Public For Sixth Day Over Terror Threat #DRC

December 3, 2018 By in AF |Africa, Americans Abroad, Consular Work, Diplomatic Life, Diplomatic Security, Foreign Service, Hotspots, Realities of the FS, Security, Terrorism, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

 

On December 2, the US Embassy Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced that it will be closed to the public again due to a terrorist threat against USG facilities in the capital city. Below is part of the announcement:

The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa is working closely with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to address a terrorist threat against USG facilities in Kinshasa.  The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa will be closed to the public on Monday, December 3.

 Actions to Take:

·        Maintain a heightened level of vigilance and practice good situational awareness.

·         Monitor local media for updates.

·         Keep a low profile and notify friends and family of your safety.

·         Review the country page  and remain alert for potentially dangerous situations.

US Embassy Kinshasha previously “received credible and specific information of a possible terrorist threat against U.S. Government facilities in Kinshasa” on November 24, 2018. It initially closed to the public with only minimal staffing on Monday, November 26, 2018.

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Presentations of Credentials: U.S. Ambassadors to Nepal, Trinidad & Tobago, Poland, UNVIE

October 30, 2018 By in Ambassadors, Diplomatic Life, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

 

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U.S. Diplomats at Embassy Manila Eat the Most Terrifying Food in the World #fooddiplomacy

October 9, 2018 By in Diplomatic Life, Foreign Service, FSOs, Realities of the FS, U.S. Missions, Video of the Week Tags: , , , ,

 

So cracked.com has a list of the 6 Most Terrifying Food in the World and the U.S. diplomatic mission in the Philippines has a surprise for all of us!

6) Mexico’s Escamoles  – the eggs of the giant black Liometopum ant, which makes its home in the root systems of maguey and agave plants

5) Italy’s Cazu Marzu — this is a sheep’ milk cheese that has been deliberately infested by a Piophila casei, the “cheese fly” which results in “a maggot-ridden, weeping stink bomb in an advanced state of decomposition”

4) Norway’s Lutefisk – this is “a traditional Norwegian dish featuring cod that has been steeped for many days in a solution of lye, until its flesh is caustic enough to dissolve silver cutlery”

3) Korea’s Baby Mice Wine “a traditional Chinese and Korean “health tonic,” which apparently tastes like raw gasoline”

2) Iraq’s Pacha or to put it simply, boiled sheep’ head, and as the cracked writers put it, “Burp while ye may,” the sockets say, “for the same fate will happen to you–and all too soon.”

1) Philippines’ Balut – “duck eggs that have been incubated until the fetus is all feathery and beaky, and then boiled alive. The bones give the eggs a uniquely crunchy texture.”

Below is a video clip of our diplomats in the Philippines eating not #6 or #2; they had to show us how to eat #1, those “crunchy” baby duck eggs!!!

NOTE: We have no/no plans of trying any of them anytime soon, thank you very much but let us know if your post has a video to share.

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Amb Nikki Haley’s Manhattan Curtains Make a News Splash But Wait …

September 14, 2018 By in Ambassadors, Diplomatic Life, FS Funding, Functional Bureaus, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

 

So Nikki Haley’s New York curtains made the news.  According to the NYT, the State Department spent $52,701 for curtains in UN Ambassador Nikki Haley’s Manhattan apartment.

According to the report, the USG leased the property located at Norman Foster’s 50 UN Plaza Penthouse after the State Department ditched the Waldorf Astoria as the USUN ambassador’s residence in 2016. This happened following the purchased of the Waldorf hotel by a Chinese insurance company with a murky ownership structure.There is reportedly an option to buy this property.  Ambassador Haley is the first ambassador to live in it.

Given the news about various questionable and outrageous expenses across agencies in D.C., and particularly with the funding issues with the State Department when the curtain purchase was expended in 2017, we could be tempted to lump this together with all the swampy behavior in the news.  To be sure, these curtains cost almost as much as the median household income in 2017, and the curtains don’t have to do anything but look clean and nice, and keep prying eyes away. However, we should note that the previous USUN ambassador’s residence at the Waldorf had been previously occupied by other ambassadors and would have been already furnished. This was not a case of she did not like the curtains, and asked that they be replaced. This chief of mission residence (CMR) is a new 5,893 ft² rental, and unless rented furnished, probably required new furnishing, and, of course, new curtains … in a city where the cost of living is 138.6% above U.S. average.

One source familiar with State Department real estate told us that this would be considered part of the “make ready” improvements when the Department takes possession of a property. In some places overseas, it could include not just curtains but also American size washers/dryers. In Africa, it could include generators. We’ve heard of a $40K drapes at some unidentified post. Can you imagine what it would cost to replace the drapes at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in London or Paris?  Of course, non-career folks always have the option to spend their own money whether on CMR curtains or in 4th of July parties but that’s another story.

One former fed told us that given the hiring freeze and the drastic cuts in State funding, that this shouldn’t have gone through. We understand that perspective but remember that Foggy Bottom was Crazytown Also in 2017 with almost all bureaus vacant at the top.  Which acting official should have cancelled this purchase, only to rewrite the purchase order for the necessary expense months later? The NYT report cites Patrick Kennedy, the former Under Secretary for Management at State who defended the purpose of this purchase for entertainment and security. Would Diplomatic Security have allowed occupancy without curtains? Which country or countries might have potential spies/prying eyes directed at this 40th floor penthouse?

Perhaps, it should also be noted that an ambassador’s residence is used not just as living quarters for the chief of mission and his/her family, it is also used as a venue for diplomatic representations, receptions and events.  In many ways, the official chief of mission residences are similar to US embassies abroad; they are representations of the United States. We’d suggest that this expenditure would have been made even if the appointee were a career diplomat.

But there’s some good news! These curtains will likely stay there throughout Haley’s tenure and the next ambassador’s tenure. Unless Scott Pruitt gets appointed to USUN, in which case, we should probably prepare ourselves for mechanized bulletproof curtains in the first 100 days!

Below is the  description of the property via Street Easy (see link for photos).

A rare opportunity is available to rent this full floor condominium on the 40th floor facing all four directions.If you are looking for the best, this is the highest and largest penthouse available for rent in this unique midtown United Nations location. A tad shy of 6,000 sq feet! With views of the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, this coveted condominium across the street from the UN has floor to ceiling glass walls with bay windows throughout and a living/dining room overlooking the beautiful East River. Enjoy the boats and yachts passing by going downtown as well as magnificent skyline views at night. Conveniently located all on one level, this home features corner living and dining rooms as well and two corner master bedrooms. The 11’3″ ceiling height allows for beautiful sunsets and sunrises every day. There are five bedrooms, all with en suite baths with high quality natural stones, some with windows and separate showers stalls and bidets. The interior finishes throughout include custom hardware, and solid white oak floors. The large eat-in-kitchen is outfitted with Varenna white lacquer cabinetry and high end appliances. There are two maids bedrooms in addition and 6.5 baths in total. This masterpiece is designed by the world renowned Architect, Sr. Norman Foster. Cleverly combining Glass with steel to allow natural light into every home, this building boasts elegance from the motor-court lobby with 16′ soaring ceilings and water fall and fireplace, to the wellness center with a 75 foot swimming pool and state-of-the-art fitness facility. A beautiful building that has it all! In addition, this full service property with resident manager, concierge, and valet service also has a conference room, steam, sauna, treatment room, play room, cold storage and bike storage. This penthouse includes valet parking at no additional cost!

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Career Diplomat Lucia Piazza Talks About Surviving an Embassy Attack

September 14, 2018 By in Diplomatic Attacks, Diplomatic Life, Foreign Service, FSOs, Hotspots, Locally Employed Staff, Org Life, Protests, Realities of the FS, Security, Staffing the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

Six years ago today, protesters attacked the US Embassy Tunis compound in Tunisia and torched the vehicles in the diplomatic compound (see US Embassy Tunisia: Protesters breach and set compound on fire (video); Embassy now on Ordered Departure).  Below is a TEDxFoggyBottom talk from June by a career diplomat who was there during that 2012 attack on Embassy Tunis. 

This is something to watch, especially for folks who do not quite understand the Foreign Service, or appreciate how career FS people many, many times had to tell their loved ones goodbye, send them off to safety without knowing if they will see them again, while they stay to do the jobs they are tasked to do in foreign countries that are often hostile and dangerous. 

Via YouTube/TEDx Talks

What does it take to survive a deadly attack on an embassy? For career Foreign Service Officer Lucia Piazza, strong leadership before a crisis is key to saving lives under pressure. Lucia Piazza is the Director of Crisis Management and Strategy in the Office of the Secretary of State. A career Foreign Service Officer, since joining the State Department in 2001 Lucia has represented the US government as a diplomat in countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. Lucia received a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College, National Defense University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire. She is the recipient of multiple awards including two Superior Honor Awards for her leadership during the 2012 attack on Embassy Tunis and a Superior Honor Award in 2017 for her leadership of the State Department’s response to Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and Maria when she and her team oversaw the evacuation and repatriation of over 3000 U.S. citizens. Lucia speaks Arabic, French, Italian, and Spanish. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

 

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Senate Passes 98-0 Resolution Against Making Available Current/Ex-Diplomats For Russia Questioning

July 19, 2018 By in Ambassadors, Congress, Diplomatic History, Diplomatic Immunity, Diplomatic Life, Foreign Service, Hall of Shame, Huh? News, Public Service, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Spectacular, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, U.S. Senate, US Presidents Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

 

A follow-up to Trump-Putin Summit Fallout: POTUS Entertains Proposal For Russia to Question Ex-US Amb Mike McFaul. The Senate has just passed a 98-0 resolution against making available for Russian questioning  current or former diplomats as well as other officials of the United States Government. The White House has now released a statement about Putin’s proposal that the President of the United States purportedly disagreed with but had previously called “an incredible offer.”

See July 19 update below via VOA with Secretary Pompeo saying “It’s not going to happen,” then added that “”President Trump was very clear – we’re not gonna force Americans to go to Russia to be interrogated by the Russians.”  

The notion that this proposal was made in “sincerity” by President Putin, and that President Trump disagreed with it is actually laughable. Were that true, the Press Secretary could have said immediately that the president pushed back hard against that proposal. This White House must really think we’re all dumb as rocks.

This was a no brainer. Ambassador McFaul, and the other officials that Russia wanted to question may not have been employees of this president, but they were employees and representatives of the United States of America, not of the Democratic Party (despite what this president might think or believe). The fact that this was even offered as a proposal tells us just what Putin think of this President. And the fact this President Trump did not push back and even appeared to consider it is horrifying.

So instead, the Press Secretary announced from the podium that the president “would work with his team” — excuse me, to do what exactly? And now the Press Secretary is saying that while President Trump disagreed with Putin’s proposal, “hopefully President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt.”  That proposal was supposedly in exchange for the questioning of USG individuals. And now all they have left is “hoping” that Putin will go ahead with the proposal anyway?

Holy caramba! No wonder Putin is laughing his head off; he’s playing chess against our White House playing find the shortest toothpick.

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UPDATE:

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Trump-Putin Summit Fallout: POTUS Entertains Proposal For Russia to Question Ex-US Amb Mike McFaul

July 18, 2018 By in Diplomatic History, Diplomatic Immunity, Diplomatic Life, Foreign Affairs, Hall of Shame, Huh? News, Realities of the FS, Spectacular, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, US Presidents Tags: , , , ,

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Venezuela Expels US Embassy Caracas CDA Todd Robinson, DCM Brian Naranjo #48Hours

May 22, 2018 By in Ambassadors, Diplomatic Life, Foreign Service, FSOs, Persona Non Grata, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 11:23 am PT