Jeffrey DeLaurentis (born 1954) is an American diplomat who served as the Chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the United States, Havana from 2015 to 2017 and is currently serving as the acting U.S. ambassador for special political affairs. DeLaurentis has ambassadorial rank in the State Department because his prior position at the UN was a US Senate-confirmed ambassadorial position. Cuba and the United States formally restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after having severed diplomatic ties in 1961 amid the Cold War.