United States Ambassador to Mozambique

Ambassador of the United States to Mozambique
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Douglas M. Griffiths since August 3, 2012
Nominator	Barack Obama
Inaugural holder	Willard A. De Pree as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation	February 4, 1976
Website	U.S. Embassy - Maputo

Mozambique was an overseas possession of Portugal until 1975. On June 25, 1975, Portugal granted independence to Mozambique, much later than other European nations had freed their own African possessions.

The United States immediately recognized the new nation and moved to establish diplomatic relations. An embassy in the capital Maputo (then named Lourenço Marques) was opened November 8, 1975, with Johnnie Carson as chargé d’affaires ad interim. On February 4, 1976, Ambassador Willard A. De Pree was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mozambique.

On March 29, 2012, President Barack Obama, in a White House press release, officially nominated Douglas M. Griffiths to succeed Leslie V. Rowe as the U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Mozambique. Griffiths is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and previously served as the U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

U.S. diplomatic terms