A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, John Barrett assumed his position
as Deputy Chief of Mission in May 2023. He most recently served as Counselor
for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Peru. Prior to that, John was Consul
General of the U.S. Consulate General in Recife, leading U.S. diplomatic
engagement across eight states in northeastern Brazil.
From 2015 to 2017, John was in Washington D.C. serving as the U.S. State
Department’s senior country officer supporting the U.S.-Philippines bilateral
relationship. From 2012 to 2015, John was the Counselor for Economic Affairs at
the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador where he co-chaired implementation of the
Partnership for Growth, a White House and government of El Salvador initiative to
address security and economic growth challenges. John has also served in China,
Afghanistan, and Guatemala.
Before joining the Department of State, John held business and strategic planning
positions with PepsiCo, The Walt Disney Company, and LEK Consulting. John
earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from the
Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. He speaks Spanish
and Portuguese.