Charles A. Gillespie, Jr.

Charles Anthony Gillespie Jr. (March 22, 1935 – March 7, 2008) was a United States career diplomat who helped to open the first United States Embassy in Grenada. He later served as the United States Ambassador to Colombia and the United States Ambassador to Chile.

Gillespie spent over thirty years in the United States foreign service as a specialist in Latin American and Caribbean affairs.

Gillespie headed the United States public relations task force to gain Congressional support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Death Charles A. Gillespie Jr. died of cancer at the age of 72 on March 7, 2008, at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. He was survived by his children, Charles and Kristin, and three grandchildren. His wife, Vivian Havens, whom he had been married to for 45 years, died in 2003.