THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                (Hong Kong, People's Republic of China)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                       July 2, 1998

            PRESIDENT CLINTON ACCORDS PERSONAL RANK OF AMBASSADOR
                            TO RONALD D. GODARD

The President today announced his intent to accord the Personal Rank of Ambassador to Ronald D. Godard in his capacity as Special Representative to the Inter-American Council for Integral Development at the General Assembly of the Organization of American States.

Mr. Ronald Godard, of Odessa, Texas, is a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor. He joined the Foreign Service in 1967, and has served primarily in Latin America. He began his career in Panama, and has successively held positions in Nicaragua, Turkey, Costa Rica, and Chile. From l99l-l993, he was first Deputy Chief of Mission and then Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua. In l993, he was posted to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he served as Deputy Chief of Mission, and Charge d'Affaires in December l996. He has been serving as Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States since November 1997. From l964-l966, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador.

Mr. Godard received both his B.A. in History and his M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas-Austin. He speaks fluent Spanish.

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