Ambassador Ojars Kalnins was Ambassador to the U.S. and Mexico from January 1993 - December 1999. Prior to his positions at the Embassy of Latvia, he was public relations director of the American Latvian Association (ALA). Ojars Kalnins was raised and educated in the United States, and, once Latvia restored its independence, gave up his U.S. citizenship to become a diplomat. Following his posting as Ambassador, he moved to Latvia and, since January 2000 has served as the Director of the Latvian Institute www.li.lv. He can be reached at kalnins@li.lv