Ambassador James B. Story most recently served as U.S. Ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit, located at the United States Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. Previously, Ambassador Story served as Chargé d’Affaires at the Venezuela Affairs Unit and, prior to mid-2019, the United States Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. Ambassador Story has also served as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro. Other positions include Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Office for the Western Hemisphere; Director of the INL Office in Bogotá, Colombia; and Senior Civilian Representative in Southeastern Afghanistan.

A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Story has served in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Washington, D.C., Maputo, Guadalajara, and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He is the recipient of numerous State Department and interagency awards including the Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award, the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs, and the Distinguished Honor Award for the Western Hemisphere Bureau.

Ambassador Story grew up in the small town of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, and graduated with a B.A./B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from South Carolina College at the University of South Carolina. He received an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He speaks Portuguese and Spanish.