LAC Welcomes New Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator

Ambassador Liliana Ayalde comes to the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau of USAID from Paraguay where she served as Chief of Mission starting in August 2008. She is a senior foreign service officer with 30 years of development and diplomatic experience in Latin America. She served as Mission Director for USAID/Colombia during which she oversaw the development assistance portfolio of Plan Colombia between 2005 and 2008.

Amb. Ayalde joined USAID in 1982 under the International Development Intern program in USAID/Dhaka. In 1985, she was posted at USAID/Guatemala during a period of transition to a democratic government overseeing a variety of social development programs. She was then posted to Nicaragua, where she managed a growing development assistance portfolio during the early 1990s. In 1993, she was named Deputy Director for the Office of Central American Affairs in the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau becoming Director in 1995 during the peace process in the region. She returned to Nicaragua as Deputy Mission Director for USAID in 1997 and was assigned as Mission Director for USAID/Bolivia during 1999-2005. 

Amb. Ayalde holds a Bachelor’s degree from American University in International Studies and a Master’s degree in International Public Health from Tulane University. She is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese and has a working knowledge of French.