Arturo Valenzuela

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (since November 2009)

(Official Photo)

Why He Matters

Valenzuela, a democracy expert and devout Democrat, is in charge of all U.S. policy for Latin America. A former Clinton White House staffer who served as a key adviser on Mexican policy and broader regional issues, Valenzuela continues his link to the family in this new post working under Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Chilean-born professor and director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University has a tough job ahead of him as relations with many countries south of the U.S. border deteriorated under the George W. Bush administration.

Read more

Corrections?

Background

At a Glance

Career History: Professor of government and director of the Center for Latin American Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (1987-current); Deputy assistant secretary for inter-american affairs (first Bill Clinton administration); White House special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Inter-American affairs at the National Security Council (second Clinton administration)
Hometown: Concepcion, Chile
Alma Mater: Columbia University, Masters and Ph.D. in political science, 1971; Drew University, B.A. summa cum laude in political science, 1965
Spouse: Katy Mudge

Office: Center for Latin American Studies, Georgetown University, Intercultural Center 484, Washington D.C. 20057, #202.687.0140
Email
Web site

Path to Power

Valenzuela grew up in Concepcion, Chile, an urban area between the capital of Santiago and the country's scenic lake district. The son of a Chilean Methodist pastor and an American missionary, he studied French as a youth then came to the U.S. in his teens.

Though he became rooted in the U.S., his studies never strayed far from his native Latin America as he focused his academic career on political science in the region. The trilingual student graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude in political science from New Jersey's Drew University in 1965 then continued on for his master's and Ph.D. at Columbia University.

Read more

Valenzuela has been most drawn to the topic of democracy and the lack thereof in Latin America, authoring or co-authoring nine books including "A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet" and "The Failure of Presidential Democracy: The Case of Latin America." He has also specialized in electoral systems, regime transitions and civil-military relations.

Before coming to Georgetown in 1987, Valenzuela was a political science professor and director of the then-Council of Latin American studies at Duke University. At Duke he befriended Ricardo Lagos, a Chilean exile later to become president of that country from 2000 to 2006.

Valenzuela's stints as a visiting scholar have taken him around the world to places like Oxford University, the University of Florence, and the University of Chile. He has also served as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and sits on numerous boards including the National Council of La Raza and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

Valenzuela's political career heated up once in Washington. In 1987, at the urging of Madeleine Albright, he became an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. Then, in Bill Clinton's first administration, he served as the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for Inter-American affairs, where he was responsible for "global issues (democracy, environment, human rights, migration and refugees) for the Americas and the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy toward Mexico." Both Brazil and Colombia recognized his diplomatic achievements with awards.

In Clinton's second term, Valenzuela went to the White House as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Inter-American affairs at the National Security Council. These roles had him formulating a wide range of policies in the Western hemisphere on issues like defense, intelligence and economics. He was also tasked with managing all regional crises.

In recent years, Valenzuela advised Hillary Rodham Clinton on her presidential campaign, moving over to the Obama camp only after she withdrew from the race.

The prolific author has written numerous academic articles as well as commentaries for U.S., European, and Latin American publications. He has served as a regular clumnist at Mexico's El Universal newspaper, and was once a frequent host on CNN Spanish's "Choque de Opiniones."

Senate Confirmation Troubles

In July 2009, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) called for a delay in the Senate Foreign Relations committee vote on Valenzuela's nomination after expressing displeasure with the nominee's answers to questions about the Honduran political crisis. Valenzuela labeled Manuel Zelaya's ouster from the presidency "a classic military coup" and supported the Obama administration's condemnation of the act. Alarmed by Zelaya's leftist leanings, DeMint and other conservatives have instead focused on Zelaya's alleged constitutional abuses to support the ouster.

The Issues

A region with leaders as divergent as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe presents its share of challenges for U.S. policy. Valenzuela will confront the dichotomy of having both staunch U.S. allies and declared enemies in Latin America, as well as a wide spectrum of people hungering for U.S.-style economic development to those rejecting all "Yankee" meddling in their political and economic systems.

Valenzuela supports richer and more active relations with the region, in line with Obama's call at the 2009 Summit of the Americas for "an equal partnership" and "engagement based on mutual respect and common interests."

Read more

In his Senate nomination hearing, Valenzuela applauded Obama's first call as president to Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and praised Secretary Clinton's four visits to the region in just five months. He echoed the administration's belief that "our partnership requires a genuine willingness to listen and learn from our neighbors." Opening the way for dialogue and improving tense relations with countries like Cuba and Venezuela is part of that agenda.

This approach is in sharp contrast to the hard-line taken in the region by some controversial predecessors. Otto Reich, who served in the assistant secretary briefly as a temporary Bush appointee after failing Senate confirmation, was a fierce Chavez critic and helped make the decision to recognize the short-lived 2002 coup that ousted the Venezuelan leader momentarily.

Leading to regional criticism of the U.S., the Bush administration didn't condemn the ouster until after Chavez was reinstated by the military. Further irritating regional leaders, Reich was U.S. ambassador to Venezuela in the late 1980s, where he is believd to have helped secure the release of jailed Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who had been sentenced for the terrorist bombing of a Cuban jet that killed all 73 passengers aboard. Also in the 1980s, he was among U.S. officials involved in the Iran-Contra controversy.

Reich's successor, Roger Noriega, was also controversial and became a pivotal player in the formulation of Bush's tougher Cuba policy. Though he was ultimately replaced, according to an analysis by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, "the damage control came too late in Bush's tenure to salvage matters in an administration that had long since pushed hemispheric concerns off its plate in favor of an obsession with Iraq."

Valenzuela himself has been a frequent critic of Bush's Latin America policies. In 2006, he blamed Bush for "the historical failure" of immigration reform that would have benefitted millions of Mexicans in an article in El Universal.Obama has pledged to enact such reform as well as increase U.S. support of Mexico's efforts to combat drug-related violence.

In his July 2009 confirmation hearing, Valenzuela called for "a new approach" to Latin American policy, and highlighted the region's ties to the U.S. and the fact that U.S. trade with Latin America and the Caribbean counts for almost 19 percent of the total.

Despite a commitment to economic integration and increased trade in the region, Valenzuela also displayed a deep interest in education and social justice when he told the committee that, "Free trade alone is not enough to ensure equal economic opportunity for all. Until structural reforms open economic sectors to competition, and high quality modern education is made available to every child, we will continue to see a region with the highest income inequality in the world."

The Network

Valenzuela has worked alongside both Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and collaborated with other Democratic heavyweights like Madeleine Albright and Michael Dukakis. He is close to many Latin American leaders and intellectuals, and also told El Mercurio newspaper that he occasionally dines in Washington with fellow Chilean Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization of American States.

Valenzuela was nominated along with another Latin American native, the Bolivian-born Maria Otero, who is now the State Department's under secretary of global affairs.

Read more

Campaign Contributions

Valenzuela is a committed Democrat, contributing $16,250 to Democratic funds and candidates since the mid-1990s. He made three contributions to Obama's bid for the presidency in late summer and fall 2008; he has also been a strong supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, donating $1,000 in 2005 and $2,300 in 2007.

Other Democratic beneficiaries include Joe Garcia, a congressional contender from Florida in 2008; Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) in 2006, 2002 and 1998; U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, previously a senator from Colorado, in 2004; Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004; Wesley Clark, a retired U.S. army general and former presidential candidate, in 2003; and Alex Rodriguez, a candidate for congress from Arizona, in 1998.

Additional Resources