Frank Almaguer

Influence and Accountability

Criticism is hard to take, but it becomes more palatable when that criticism is seen as a desire to be constructive and even sympathetic… I was very outspoken [as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras]. I talked extensively about development issues afflicting Honduras. But first I had to develop the reputation for being a true friend of the country and its people and with a helpful approach, not just for the sake of criticizing.

– Frank Almaguer (PCV British Honduras/Belize 1967-69; PTO Belize 1974-76; PC Country Director Honduras 1976-79; U.S. Ambassador to Honduras 1999-2002)

Following his volunteer years in Belize, Frank Almaguer served as Peace Corps Country Director in Honduras. There he helped staff, volunteers, and family through their grief following the tragic hit-and-run death of a volunteer at the alleged hands of a Honduran military officer. Twenty-five years later Almaguer returned as ambassador to Honduras, leading U.S. clean-up efforts following Hurricane Mitch, which devastated the country a year earlier, leaving over 20,000 people dead or missing throughout the region.

When Almaguer presented his credentials to President Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé, Flores told him: “When I first heard they were sending a former Peace Corps Volunteer as ambassador, I was worried. Everybody knows we politicians visit the countryside to campaign, but you Peace Corps people really know the campo.” The relationship flourished from there, opening opportunities for new volunteers to meet with the president as they prepared to deploy throughout the country. Almaguer traveled widely with Flores, with the Hondurans reframing hurricane clean up as a “transformative opportunity” to remake government and society, passing legislation and executive orders to embed the principles of transparency and good governance into the effort.