Department of State, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Department/Agency: Department of State

Position:

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Executive Schedule: Executive Level IV - Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation

Major Responsibilities:

Manage and promote U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere through democracy, trade, and sustainable development.
Oversee efforts dealing with drug trafficking, poverty reduction, and environmental protection across the region

Key Competencies and Preferred Qualifications:

Expertise in North, South, and Central American issues
Background in political diplomacy

Insight:

The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs is charged with fostering and maintaining diplomatic ties with the United States' neighboring nations in the Western Hemisphere. The stated goal of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs is to work with the other nations in the Americas in an effort to generate a broader growth through freer trade and more sound policies. U.S. interests in the region run the gamut from democracy and trade to fighting drug trafficking and crime to reducing poverty, protecting the environment and fostering sustainable economic development. The assistant secretary has a hand in U.S. efforts to stop drug trafficking in the region, but there is a large humanitarian aspect to the job as well, including efforts to help people live healthier, more prosperous lives and encourage the strengthening of democratic systems of government to serve people more effectively and justly. This official also is deeply involved in trying to expand the Central American Free Trade Agreement and convince Congress to approve new, bilateral pacts, including one with Colombia. CAFTA, which President Bush signed in 2005, currently covers Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Assistant Secretary of State Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., a career Foreign Service officer appointed in 2005, has played a leading role in several new initiatives, including the Merida Initiative, a drug interdiction program launched 2007 with strong cooperation from Mexico and other countries in the Caribbean and Central America. Congress approved an initial $400 million for Mexico and $65 million for Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti to provide equipment and training to support law enforcement operations and undertake long-term reform and oversight of security agencies, and President Bush requested $450 million more for Mexico and $100 million for Central America in his fiscal 2009 budget proposal. The initiative was launched at a time of violent clashes by Mexican drug cartels with police and with rival gangs that has claimed hundreds of lives, including innocent bystanders. While most of that violence has been confined to Mexico, some killings have spilled over into U.S. territory, and some authorities in border towns have voiced concerns that the U.S.-purchased weaponry could fall into the wrong hands. A recent report by a Laredo, Texas, television state captured those concerns.

In 2007, Shannon announced a new Strategy to Combat Criminal Gangs from Central America and Mexico at a dialogue with seven Central American countries in Guatemala City. That followed a presidential Latin America tour where President Bush met with Guatemalan President Oscar Berger Perdomo, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and others to discuss the severity of the security situation in Central America and the threat posed to the United States by transnational gangs.

The assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs is also the State Department's point person in the testy relationship with Hugo Chávez, the socialist president of Venezuela since 1999 and virulent critic of President George W. Bush and his policies. Chávez is the strongest ally in the hemisphere of Cuba and its communist regime, now led by Raul Castro, brother of ailing, longtime dictator Fidel Castro. Venezuelan voters rebuffed Chávez in 2007 when he first sought an end to term limits. Now Chávez has proposed another constitutional amendment that would allow him to stay in office until 2021, eight years beyond the end of his current term. Venezuela exports almost 1 million barrels of oil a day to the United States; only Canada and Saudi Arabia supply more.

The scope and breadth of responsibilities that the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs faces are large in size and degree. The next assistant secretary carrying this portfolio will be faced with increased challenges not just from the countries within the hemisphere, but from other parts of the world as well. As oil prices spiked upward in mid-2008, Chávez was pushing hard for closer ties with Russia, much to the chagrin of U.S. officials. Russian warships conducted drills with the Venezuelan Navy in December 2008, their first such operation in the Caribbean since the Cold War. Chávez denounced President Bush as "the devil" in an inflammatory 2006 address at the United Nations.

The lame-duck Bush administration tried without success to convince Congress to approve a free trade agreement with Colombia. It was held up in large part due to concerns among Democratic senators - including Barack Obama - about government mistreatment of trade unionists in Colombia. GOP presidential candidate and fellow senator John McCain complained in one his three debates with Obama about the hold-up; McCain had been greeted warmly by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on a visit to Cartegena last July. Uribe maintained close ties with outgoing President Bush and called Obama "misinformed" when the Democratic candidate spoke out last spring against human rights abuses in Colombia. Nonetheless, Uribe later said he was neutral about whom Americans should choose for the next president. Colombia remains the principal source of cocaine smuggled into the United States.

These and other difficult issues now await resolution by President-elect Obama and the 111^th Congress. The assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric affairs will play an important role in shaping and implement new U.S. policies and approaches to this region on the country's doorstep.

Key Relationships – Within the Department or Agency:

Secretary and Deputy Secretary of State
Under Secretary for Political Affairs
Assistant Secretary, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
Ambassadors (Chiefs of Mission) to Canada, Mexico and other nations in Central and South America and the Caribbean

Key Relationships – Within the Government:

Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Under Secretary for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce
Administrator, Agency for International Development (USAID)
U.S. Trade Representative
President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)--Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Justice
Assistant Administrator and Chief of Intelligence, DEA, Department of Justice
Deputy Director, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, U.S. Department of Defense
Assistant Secretary, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Commissioner, Customs & Border Protection, DHS
Director, Peace Corps

Key Relationships – Outside the Government:

Secretary General, Organization of American States
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Americas Program
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
Global Environment Facility
Inter-American Development Bank
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Secretariat
Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD)
Sabre Foundation
United Nations (UN)
The World Bank Group
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
International Police Organization (INTERPOL)
American Council for Voluntary International Action
Civicus
International Foundation for Election Systems
International Law Institute

Nomination Referred to:

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Current Position Profile:

1. Arturo Valenzuela (Confirmed: Nov 5, 2009). Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Office of the Deputy Secretary, United States Department of State, William J. Clinton Administration. Former Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs, Office of the National Security Advisor, National Security Council, Executive Office of the President.

Recent Position Profiles:

2. Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. (2005- ). Career Foreign Service officer. Senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the National Security Council. Director, Andean Affairs. Deputy permanent U.S. representative to the Organization of American States. Political counselor at U.S. Embassy Caracas, Venezuela. Labor attaché in South Africa, special assistant to ambassador in Brazil.

3. Roger Francisco Noriega (2003-2005). Former congressional aide and senior staff member on House International Relations Committee. U.S. Permanent Representative to Organization of American States (OAS). Public affairs program officer for U.S. Agency for International Development.

4. Otto J. Reich (2002-2003). Business executive and former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela.