James “Jimmy” Story is the Ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit, located at the United States Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. Ambassador Story was confirmed by the Senate on November 18, 2020.
Most recently, Ambassador Story served as Chargé d’ Affaires at the Venezuela Affairs Unit and the United States Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, since July, 2018 until the temporary suspension of operations and the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel due to security concerns.
Previously, Ambassador Story served as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro. Other recent positions include Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Office for the Western Hemisphere, Director of INL Office in Bogota, Colombia, and Senior Civilian Representative in Southeastern Afghanistan.
A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Story has also served in Sao Paulo as the Deputy Principal Officer and Political-Economic Chief; Brasilia as the Regional Environmental Affairs Director for South America; Washington D.C. in the Office of Marine Conservation in the OES Bureau; Maputo Mozambique as Economic-Political officer; Guadalajara, Mexico as a Consular Officer; and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations as the Ambassador’s staff assistant. He is the recipient of numerous State Department and interagency awards including the Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award, the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs, and the Distinguished Honor Award for the Western Hemisphere Bureau.
Ambassador Story grew up in the small town of Moncks Corner, South Carolina and graduated with a B.A./B.Sc. in interdisciplinary studies from South Carolina College at the University of South Carolina. He also received a M.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He speaks Portuguese and Spanish. He is married to Susan West Story, and they have one son, James McKelvey “Mac” Story.