[5] Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to Colombia,[6][7] he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

[8] Whitaker has served in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, where he was Deputy Chief of Mission (2005–07).

[1] During his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of ambassador to Colombia, Whitaker commented on the effects of the sack of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro on the peace process between the Colombian government and FARC.

[9] In May 2014 Venezuelan officials claimed that Whitaker was personally involved in a U.S. attempt to destabilize the leftist government of President Nicolás Maduro.

"[11] An expert in cybersecurity forensics said the emails used by the Venezuelan government to accuse the opposition of a plot were fake.