Global Atlanta tracks the diplomatic corps in part through our Consular Conversations series, sponsored for nearly 10 years by Miller & Martin and more recently by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, the latter of which hosted an India edition in August with Consul General Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan, second from right.

With the FIFA World Cup coming around 30 years post-Olympics, the eyes of the world are turning with greater focus toward Atlanta and Georgia. 

For some of the city’s 70-plus diplomatic missions or trade offices, that means the work of tapping into a generational sports-diplomacy opportunity is already piling up. 

Spanish Honorary Consul Ignacio Taboada, occupying his post here since the 1990s, is looking to host top officials for a visit to discuss  business opportunities embedded in the two matches we’ll host for Spain’s top-ranked futbol squad.  

While not directly related to the World Cup, Argentina’s Alana Lomonaco Busto recently brought in her ambassador on a tech trade mission, where he pointed to the city’s growing population and cultural assets, including sports, as an advantage for Argentine companies. (Note: In a fireside chat with the ambassador, Technology Association of Georgia’s Larry Williams said the tournament represents another “quantum leap” for the state — the first one? The 1996 Olympics). 

However things shake out, even if we don’t get that England-Argentina semifinal some are pining for, one thing is sure: Having a strong diplomatic corps offers an outsized advantage when it comes to coordinating inbound missions— and focusing the eyes of other countries on the city during this pivotal moment. 

In more than 10 years hosting our monthly Consular Conversations series of interviews to help diplomats demystify their jobs and publicize their platforms, we’ve interviewed more than 50 of these diplomats on-stage. 

Besides the fact that they provide the first touch points for Atlanta companies doing business in their respective countries, these consuls, honorary consuls and trade officials end up becoming de facto ambassadors for the city and region they’ve come to call home. The South, they find, is a region of both political and economic dynamism. 

“My job is to sell this region to the U.K. because there’s an opportunity for the UK here, and I don’t want us to miss it,” says British Consul General Rachel Galloway, who has noted that she will be departing Atlanta in August — conveniently after the football fan will have witnessed the World Cup. (Ms. Galloway is our next luncheon guest — find out more about the Jan. 28 event atthe Gwinnett Chamber here) 

For these reasons and more, we’ve endeavored to put together a comprehensive annual diplomatic digest for your perusal, buttressed by our coverage from throughout the year. Did we miss something or someone? Let me know 

Note: Special thanks to Miller & Martin PLLC and Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce for ongoing sponsorship of the Consular Conversations series, and to University of Georgia‘s Dean Rusk International Law Center for supporting our Diplomacy Channel.

JUMP TO: Mexico | El Salvador | Korea, Japan, Taiwan | Israel | Career Consulates | Ukraine | Milestones

A Dean Departed: Mexico’s Consul General Leaves After Nine Years

Perhaps the biggest news in the corps for the year was the departure of Mexican Consul General Javier Diaz de Leon, who had served in Atlanta for nine years and became somewhat of a household name (and ubiquitous presence) in the city’s close-knit international affairs world. 

Mr. Diaz de Leon, a North American specialist, finally broke the mold late in his career, taking up a post as Mexico’s ambassador to Turkey. 

What he’ll miss? A Mexican food scene that has grown up substantially since his arrival back in 2016, and his yearly “grito” marking Mexican independence each September. 

What he likely won’t miss: Defending the USMCA trade agreement from constant attacks. 

His successor is Rafael Laveaga, who arrived on the same day Global Atlanta moderated a forum hosted by the consulate on the trade agreement that (so far) still binds North America together — and the very day after Mr. Diaz de Leon departed, leaving no lull in service to the vast Mexican community. Mr. Laveaga headed up the consular section of the Mexican embassy in the U.S. for eight years before coming to Atlanta.  

El Salvador Steps Up

Speaking of work piling up, Monica Marin Cruz, consul general of El Salvador, added a new title this year: dean of the Georgia Consular Corps, succeeding Mr. Diaz de Leon as the longest-serving member of the 70-strong group, having arrived here in late 2020. 

Ms. Marin has presided over a move of the consulate deeper into Gwinnett County, welcome the Salvadoran ambassador to talk about the country’s national “rebranding,” and helped the Georgia Hispanic Chamber carry out a trade mission to San Salvador. She’s now preparing to host top leaders from the foreign ministry as a followup to talk about further investment opportunities (more to come on our site on this). 

As dean, Ms. Marin has presided over a revitalized slate of internal consular corps luncheons, bringing the group together as much as possible for the sharing of contact, ideas and best practices. 

Asian Partners Get Refreshed Representatives

In 2025, some of Georgia’s top trade and investment partners from Asia also appointed new representatives in the state — and for some not soon enough given the turbulence they’ve faced in trade relations with the U.S. 

South Korea didn’t have a consul general in place during the fateful ICE raid on the Hyundai plant near Savannah in September but has since appointed Joonho Kim as its new top diplomat for the region. 

Japan saw a smooth transition, with Kenichi Matsuda taking up his post as consul general just weeks before the SEUS-Japan conference attended by Gov. Brian Kemp in Tokyo. Soon after that, he hosted Japan’s ambassador on a trip to Georgia and Alabama. Mr. Matsuda succeeded Mio Maeda, whose last act was attending the Georgia reception in Tokyo, along with Mr. Matsuda as well as Takashi Shinozuka, who preceded both of them in the role. Mr. Maeda, who spent three years in Atlanta, will be seconded to another office within the Japanese government for about a year before receiving his next assignment, which he assumes will once again take him abroad. Learn more: Japan’s New Consul General in Atlanta Debuts at Southeast U.S. Conference in Tokyo

Taiwan, similarly, saw a seamless segue from Elliot Wang to Jared Lin, the new director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta, who hopes to focus heavily on driving and investment and trade at an uncertain time for its relations with the U.S. Taiwan’s New Representative for the Southeast Arrives in Atlanta

The TECO office helped Global Atlanta travel to Taiwan in September to examine trade issues. Read that story here: Taiwan’s Trump Trade Dilemma: When $165B in Semiconductor Investment Isn’t Enough

End of an Israeli Era 

Another long and accomplished tenure in Atlanta ended with Anat Sultan-Dadon was called back to Israel after six years as the country’s consul general in Atlanta. 

During that time, she worked through COVID-19, facilitated a gubernatorial trade mission led by Mr. Kemp, then faced the shock of the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. A few days before, Global Atlanta had hosted a Consular Conversation with her in which we discussed her efforts to fight a rising tide of anti-semitism, among many other topics.  

In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, as Israel faced pushback for its invasion of Gaza, Ms. Sultan Dadon became an outspoken defender of the Israeli campaign. 

On top of all that, she remained an advocate for persons with disabilities, citing her experience with her daughter in a farewell speech at The Temple in Atlanta. Read more: Israel’s Consul General Praised for Grit, Grace in Face of Unprecedented Challenges

Eitan Weiss, who took up the consul general role in August, has had his own meandering journey to Atlanta, which intersected with the conflict in an unexpected way. In 2022, Mr. Weiss was appointed as director of the export control division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but saw that role shift toward ensuring the health of strategic supply chains for the Israeli Defense Force and other security forces as Operation Swords of Iron broke out. 

Learn more about Mr. Weiss, the new consul general, here.

Other Moves Among Career Consulates 

  • Switzerland’s Urs Broennimann retired after three years as consul general, spending his final posting in the Swiss foreign service in Atlanta. He will be replaced by Rolf Ott, who most recently served as the charge d’affaires at the Swiss Embassy in Bulgaria. 
  • Colombia still lacks a new consul general after the departure of Adriana Arias Castiblanco. 
  • While he technically arrived in 2024, Brazil’s Pompeu Andreucci Neto has settled into his role as consul general in Atlanta, coming off two prior ambassadorial appointments in Spain and Ecuador. We interviewed Ambassador Neto during a November Consular Conversation at the Commerce Club. See the recap or listen to the interview
  • Ecuador saw a new diplomat installed in Atlanta: Consul General Roberto Quiñones.
  • The Atlanta office of the Consulate General of Dominican Republic in New Orleans continued to grow, with the visiting Consul General Rosa Torres participating in a Global Atlanta event with more than 100 participants at the Gwinnett Chamber

Ukraine Added to Consular Corps as Other Countries Exit

A timely addition to the Atlanta consular corps later in the year was the appointment of Tetiana Lendiel, a local immigration attorney, as Ukraine’s new honorary consul in Georgia.

While the Ukrainian diaspora community is small relative to other cities in the U.S., the embassy saw Georgia as a key state for shoring up Ukraine’s tech and business ties, boosting support for the fight against Russia, and ultimately rebuilding once the war has concluded.

Adding Ukraine helps the corps stave off the losses of a few other countries. Global Atlanta found the Tanzanian consulate no longer to be accredited, along with the Ethiopian and Malian honorary consulates, the latter two having closed in 2024 or earlier. Guatemala’s office on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road closed, and it’s unclear if it has been relocated or permanently shuttered. The country is no longer listed on the state’s precedence order. Turkey is also no longer listed. 

Thailand was formerly represented in Georgia by R. William “Bill” Ide III, who reportedly passed away in July. No replacement has been announced, at least as per Thai embassy’s online list of honorary consuls around the U.S. 

Meanwhile, the three African countries added last year continued to build momentum, as outlined at Global Atlanta’s Diaspora Diplomats reception in December, the second annual edition of the event highlighting the African consular corps. That event included a speech by Isaac E. Taggart Jr., a presidential special envoy for trade for Liberia, a country whose honorary consulate closed in 2024. Sierra Leone, which maintains an honorary consulate here, also has one such trade envoy here: Waleed Shamsid-Deen. Learn more here 

Additional Diplomatic Milestones for Georgia 

  • Czech Honorary Consul Monika Vintrlikova had her tenure renewed for another five years
  • Nico Wijnberg, who headed up protocol for the state for many years, left the role, which now lies with Chief Administrative Officer Mary Waters. 

As managing editor of Global Atlanta, Trevor has spent 15+ years reporting on Atlanta’s ties with the world. An avid traveler, he has undertaken trips to 30+ countries to uncover stories on the perils...

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