Chris Valdes is the Economic Officer at U.S. Embassy Suriname.  His work covers developments in Suriname’s energy sector as well as sovereign debt, mining and critical minerals, and renewable energy.  As the representative of the Foreign Commercial Service in Paramaribo, he also assists U.S. companies seeking to do business in Suriname. Prior to joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 2022, he served as an open-source intelligence analyst in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.