Ambassador Insanally assumed the post on September 1, 2016 as the Ambassador of Guyana to the U.S. and Fourth Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS). Riyad is a career diplomat, having joined Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990. Prior to this posting, he was the OAS Representative in Trinidad and Tobago (2008-2016) and an Adviser to the OAS Assistant Secretary General, in Washington, DC (2006-2008).

Riyad was a Senior Trade Adviser at the Guyana High Commission in London, and Commercial Representative of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, representing Guyana’s sugar interests in Europe (2004-2006). He was a Political Adviser to the first two Secretaries General of the Association of Caribbean States in Port of Spain, Trinidad (1997-2003); and a Senior Foreign Service Officer in the Guyana Foreign Ministry (1990-1997), specialising in multilateral diplomacy and regional integration issues. He was also a Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Guyana from 1981 to 1984.

Riyad studied Modern Languages and Latin American Studies and holds MA and MPhil degrees from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from Harvard University.