Nomination of George W. Landau To Be United States Ambassador to Venezuela

The President today announced his intention to nominate George W. Landau, of Maryland, as Ambassador to Venezuela. He would succeed William H. Luers.

Mr. Landau served in private business as an executive of a shipping company (1942-55) and as general manager of an American automobile distributor in Colombia (1955-57). In 1957 he began his career in the Foreign Service as commercial attaché and Chief of the Economic Section in Montevideo. From 1962 to 1965, he was political officer, then Deputy Chief of Mission in Madrid, and attended the Canadian National Defence College from 1965 to 1966. He was Country Director of the Office of Spanish and Portuguese Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs in the Department from 1966 to 1972. He was Ambassador to Paraguay (1972-77) and Ambassador to Chile (1977-82). From January to April 1982, he served as Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba in the Department. Mr. Landau's foreign languages are German, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Mr. Landau was born March 4, 1920, in Vienna, Austria, and became a naturalized citizen in 1943. He attended Pace College and New York University and received his A.A. in 1969 from George Washington University.