![\"us-embassy-nassau-4\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/us-embassy-nassau-4.jpg\")
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U.S. Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Gonzalez Makes Official Visit to The Bahamas\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n During the visit, U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. Lisa Johnson hosted a welcome reception in honor of DAS Gonzalez at the U.S. Ambassador\u2019s Residence.\u00a0 Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Perry G. Christie, senior government officials and representatives from the diplomatic corps, law enforcement, business and energy sectors, and civil society were among the invited guests.\u00a0 During his remarks DAS Gonzalez highlighted the strong bilateral relationship shared between the United States and The Bahamas.<\/p>\n DAS Gonzalez held meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip Davis, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Frederick Mitchell, and Minister of the Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett.\u00a0 DAS Gonzalez also toured the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) generating station and met with its management team.\u00a0 During those meetings, he pledged the United States\u2019 commitment to work with the Bahamian government to achieve its renewable energy goals.\u00a0 He also highlighted the second annual Caribbean Energy Security Summit to be hosted by Vice President Biden in Washington, D.C. on May 4th which seeks to build on last year\u2019s event, which helped create several renewable energy sector deals in the region.<\/p>\n DAS Gonzalez has responsibility for U.S. diplomatic engagement and policy implementation in Central America and the Caribbean. He was previously at the White House, most recently as Special Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2013-2015, where he advised and represented the Vice President on all policy matters related to the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n United States Embassy, Nassau<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Captions:<\/span><\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Gonzalez made an official two-day visit to The Bahamas April 18-19, 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":152546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[204,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"us-embassy-nassau-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/us-embassy-nassau-1.jpg\")
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Gonzalez made an official two-day visit to The Bahamas April 18-19, 2016.\u00a0 His trip served as an opportunity to meet with senior government officials and highlight the U.S. commitment to The Bahamas and the region.<\/p>\n![\"us-embassy-nassau-3\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/us-embassy-nassau-3.jpg\")
While in Nassau, DAS Gonzalez paid a courtesy call on the Commander of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (Acting) Tellis Bethel at the Coral Harbour base to discuss issues of mutual interest. During the meeting, Captain Bethel presented DAS Gonzalez with a plaque to commemorate the strong ties shared between both countries.\u00a0 DAS Gonzalez also visited the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) Marine Support Services Unit to participate in a harbor tour on one of four interceptor vessels funded by the U.S. Embassy\u2019s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Section.\u00a0\u00a0 The vessels were donated in an effort to increase the RBPF\u2019s operational interdiction capacity as part of Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT).\u00a0 DAS Gonzalez was joined at the Marine Unit by Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade and other RBPF officials.<\/p>\n
\nDAS Gonzalez and U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. Lisa Johnson tour the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) generating station at Clifton Pier. (Photo US Embassy)<\/span><\/em>
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\nDeputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Gonzalez gives remarks during welcome reception at U.S. Ambassador\u2019s Residence. (Photo courtesy Peter Ramsay BIS)<\/span><\/em>
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\nCommander of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (Acting) Tellis Bethel\u00a0 presents DAS Gonzalez, who is accompanied by U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. Lisa Johnson with a plaque to commemorate the strong ties shared between both countries during a courtesy call at the RBDF base.\u00a0 (Photo courtesy RBDF)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n