Consulate News

Ambassador Larry Palmer Visits Guayaquil

February 26, 2008

Ambassador Palmer (c) with Consul General Douglas Griffiths, the Director of the CEN and the College Horizons scholarship recipients

Ambassador Larry Palmer, who served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Quito and who is currently the President of the Interamerican Foundation for the Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, recently visited Guayaquil by invitation of the U.S. Consulate General.
Ambassador Palmer’s program in Guayaquil included a presentation on Black History Month and a meeting with the students who received scholarships as part of the College Horizons program, which is supported by the U.S. Consulate General and the Centro Ecuatoriano-Norteamericano (CEN) in Guayaquil. College Horizons is entering its second year of operations and has benefited 43 outstanding students from disadvantaged backgrounds by offering scholarships to study English at the CEN for two and a half years and greater opportunities in the future. To recognize the importance of the visit and to celebrate the first anniversary of College Horizons, General Consul Douglas Griffiths hosted a cocktail in honor of the scholarship recipients. Ambassador Palmer was the guest of honor, and the event served to recognize and encourage the efforts that the students are making in their academic activities.
During the rest of his visit, Ambassador Palmer also visited projects supported by the Interamerican Foundation, including several programs managed by Fundación Ser Paz in a neighborhood with the same name; and the Afro-Ecuadorian association, “Mujeres de Lucha”, in the “Cristo del Consuelo” neighborhood.