Nomination of Charles A. Gillespie, Jr., To Be United States Ambassador to Chile

The President today announced his intention to nominate Charles A. Gillespie, Jr., of California, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as Ambassador to the Republic of Chile. He would succeed Harry George Barnes, Jr.

Since joining the Foreign Service in 1965, Ambassador Gillespie has served at American Embassies in Manila, Brussels, Mexico City, and Managua, and at the U.S. mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Belgium. In 1981 he joined the staff of the State Department's Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs as a special assistant. Ambassador Gillespie was named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs in 1983. In October 1983 he was selected to establish the first American Embassy on the island of Grenada. He assumed his current duties as Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia in August 1985.

Ambassador Gillespie graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1958). He served in the United States Army, 1958-1962. He was born March 22, 1935, in Long Beach, CA. He is married, has two children, and resides in Bogota, Colombia.