Obama picks Chilean to replace Shannon at State

[rabs]

(If you want experts on Latin America, why not appoint Latin American experts.) :)


White House today nominated Chilean-born Arturo Valenzuela for the post of Under Secretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs. He would replace Thomas Shannon. (A bushie appointee in 2005)

Valenzuela is an expert on Latin America and professor of Political Science at Georgetown. He was a special aide on Latin America for President Bill Clinton.

Obama also nominated Bolivian-born Maria Otero to the State Department's Global Issues post. That office oversees human rights, democracy issues, migration, women's rights and trafficking in humans.

Obama nominated Colombian-born Ignacia Moreno to a top post that oversees the environment.

The three have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the posts.

(Source DPA dispatch published in Spanish by TELAM.)

[Bacchus39]

1. hey, lets carry that policy over to DU shall we?

emphatically agreed!!


(If you want experts on Latin America, why not appoint Latin American experts.)

[Judi Lynn]

2. Short article on Otero: Obama taps Otero for US Under Secretary of Global Affairs

Obama taps Otero for US Under Secretary of Global Affairs

Politics 5/13/2009 9:08:00 AM



WASHINGTON, May 13 (KUNA) -- President Barack Obama late on Tuesday nominated Maria Otero, a leader in microfinance, as U.S. Under Secretary of Global Affairs at the State Department.

Otero, of La Paz, Bolivia, is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of ACCION International, a pioneer in microfinance working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States, Under Otero's tenure, the ACCION network expanded from serving 460,000 people to more than 3.7 million, through a combined portfolio that has grown from 274 million dollars to nearly 3.6 billion dollars, the White House said. "She has become a leading voice on sustainable microfinance, publishing extensively on the subject and speaking throughout the world on microfinance, women's issues and poverty alleviation," the announcement said.

Prior to her work with ACCION, Otero served for five years at the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA). She was also the Economist for Latin America for the Women in Development office of the U.S. Agency for International Development.(end)

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1997765&Language=en

[rabs]

3. Judi, from the White House

Highly qualified, all three. Valenzuela will likely be a 100 percent improvement over bushista Shannon.

----------------------------

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:

Arturo Valenzuela, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State,

Dr. Arturo Valenzuela is Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is a specialist on the origins and consolidation of democracy; the institutional dimensions of democratic governance; Latin American politics; and U.S.-Latin American relations. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty he was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Council on Latin American Studies at Duke University. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, the University of Sussex, the University of Florence (Italy) and the Catholic University of Chile. During the Clinton administration, Valenzuela served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs in the United States Department of State, where his primary responsibility was United States foreign policy towards Mexico. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has been listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Higher Education and has served on the editorial boards of leading academic journals. For his diplomatic contributions he has been honored with the National Order of the Southern Cross by the government of Brazil and the Order of Boyacá by the government of Colombia. Valenzuela has served on the board of directors of Drew University, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the advisory boards of America’s Watch and the Institut des Amériques in Paris. He holds a Doctorate and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University, and a B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science and Religion from Drew University.



María Otero, Nominee for Under Secretary of Global Affairs, Department of State

María Otero, born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia, is president and CEO of ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance working in 25 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and in the United States. Under Otero’s tenure as CEO, ACCION’s network has expanded its reach from serving 460,000 people to over 3.7 million, through a combined portfolio that has grown from $274 million to nearly $3.6 billion. She has become a leading voice on sustainable microfinance, publishing extensively on the subject and speaking throughout the world on microfinance, women’s issues and poverty alleviation. Prior to her work with ACCION, Otero served for five years at the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA). Otero was also the Economist for Latin America for the Women in Development office of USAID. Otero chairs the board of ACCION Investments, a $50 million microfinance investment company and serves on the boards of BancoSol; the Calvert Foundation; BRAC of Bangladesh, one of the world’s largest NGOs; and the Public Welfare Foundation. In June 2006, Otero was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors, and in 2007 was named to the Advisory Councils of the Inter-American Foundation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Otero holds an M.A. in literature from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins’ Nitze School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in Washington, D.C. Since 1997, she has also served as an adjunct professor at SAIS.


Ignacia S. Moreno, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice

Ignacia S. Moreno is a leading practitioner in the field of environmental and natural resources law, with over 18 years of experience in the federal government and in private and corporate practice. She is currently Counsel, Corporate Environmental Programs at the General Electric Company, and serves pro bono as General Counsel to the Hispanic National Bar Association. President Clinton appointed Moreno to the Department of Justice, where she served first as Special Assistant (1994-95) and then as Principal Counsel (1996-2001) to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. In these positions she provided advice and counsel to the Assistant Attorney General on a wide variety of matters, participated in management of the Division, led significant environmental enforcement initiatives, expanded and managed the Division’s international program, and represented the United States in international negotiations and litigation. While at the Department of Justice, Moreno received Special Commendations for Outstanding Service from the Environment and Natural Resources Division, two Bronze Medals from the Environmental Protection Agency for Outstanding Service, and a federal award for excellence in partnership-building. Moreno then joined Spriggs & Hollingsworth in Washington, D.C. where she specialized in environmental and mass tort litigation with an emphasis on science-based advocacy. Moreno began her career at Hogan & Hartson LLP in Washington, D.C. where she practiced with the firm’s environmental and litigation groups after graduating from the New York University School of Law. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for International Environmental Law, the Board of Trustees for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and the Advisory Board for BNA’s Environmental Due Diligence Guide.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thanks for supplying more information on these three.

They do see far less political than the _Bush people already, don't they?

That's a refreshing change of pace. I hope it's true, that they are not immersed in corporate predatory positions. They do look far cleaner than their predecessors, like _Bush's pick, Roger Noriega, former aide to Jesse Helms, one of the world's most vicious racists.

It would be wonderful seeing Shannon moved to the back burner, or outta there altogether.

[Judi Lynn]

5. On his way out the door, Shannon made a statement:"US should respect changes in Venezuela..."

(Not exactly sure what he meant by this.)

CARACAS, Wednesday May 13, 2009
US should respect changes in Venezuela, says Shannon
With Venezuela, he remembered that an agreement was reached to appoint again their ambassadors to Caracas and Washington
Western Hemisphere

The US government should respect changes in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador when talking with these countries, said on Wednesday Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon.

"These countries have significantly and historically changed; there are new leaderships, new sectors of the society have significant voices, and we should bear this in mind," said Shannon during the annual meeting of the Council of the Americas held in the Department of State, Washington, D.C., AFP quoted.

"We must ensure that our dialogue will respect these internal changes," he added.

Shannon noted that in the Summit of the Americas recently held in Trinidad, the United States managed to "take important steps" as to the affairs with Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. US relations with these countries have been lately strained.

The senior official noted, however, that the relations with these countries "are different," entail "different challenges" and will be faced differently.

With Venezuela, he remembered that an agreement was reached to appoint again their ambassadors to Caracas and Washington, who left in September 2008, when the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez expelled the US chief of mission in solidarity with Bolivia.

On Tuesday, the White House appointed Arturo Valenzuela to succeed Shannon as the new official responsible for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/05/13/en_pol_esp_us-should-respect-ch_13A2328413.shtml
opposition newspaper