Roger Noriega
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Roger Francisco Noriega (born 1959,
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...
) is an American diplomat who served as
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs within the United States Department of State, the foreign affairs department of the United States federal government. The A ...
in the
George W. Bush Administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...
He is a visiting fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...
.


Background

Born in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...
, he attended
Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...
in Topeka where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982.


Career

Noriega has been involved in Latin American policy since the 1980s, when he worked in the
Ronald Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...
's
U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...
. According to ''
The Texas Observer ''The Texas Observer'' (also known as the ''Observer'') is an American magazine with a liberal political outlook. The ''Observer'' is published bimonthly by a 501(c)(3)Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...
. Noriega served as the Senior Policy Advisor and Alternate U.S. Representative at the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) from 1990 through 1993, and as Senior Advisor for Public Information at the OAS from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1997, Noriega returned to Capitol Hill as a senior staff member Congressman
Benjamin Gilman Benjamin Arthur Gilman (December 6, 1922 – December 17, 2016) was an American politician and Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Middletown, New York, from January 3, 1973, to January 3, 2003. Early life Gilm ...
for the House Committee on International Relations. Subsequently, he became a senior staff member of Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). In 1996, Noriega co-authored the Helms–Burton Act, which tightened the
United States embargo against Cuba The United States embargo against Cuba prevents American businesses, and businesses organized under U.S. law or majority-owned by American citizens, from conducting trade with Cuban interests. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modern his ...
. Other tours of duty in the Department of State have been with the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...
(USAID) and the Bureaus for Inter-American Affairs and Public Affairs, where he was a Program Officer from 1987 through 1990 and a Senior Writer/Editor from 1986 until 1987. Prior to that, he served as Press Secretary and Legislative Assistant for Congressman Bob Whittaker (R-Kan.), U.S. House of Representatives, from 1983 until 1986. President Bush also appointed Noriega to the board of directors of the Inter-American Foundation. Noriega served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) from 2001 to 2003.


Foreign affairs

As
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs within the United States Department of State, the foreign affairs department of the United States federal government. The A ...
under
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, Ambassador Noriega was responsible for managing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the region. Noriega was a major force behind the Bush Administration's policy towards
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. In 1996, Noriega co-authored the Helms-Burton law which tightened the 40-year-old embargo on Cuba. In April 2002, Noriega was Ambassador to the Organization of American States during the temporary ouster of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Noriega resigned from the State Department in 2005 amid criticism from Senior State Department officials aiming to ease tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela to join the private sector.


Private career

Upon entering the private sector as a lobbyist in 2005, Noriega went to work for Miami-based law firm Tew Cardenas LLP, which, according to LD-2 reports filed in the second quarter of 2004, was actively lobbying for the interests of free-market proponent organizations in Haiti. At the time of Posada Carriles' reported presence in the U.S. in 2005, Noriega stated that the United States government was not then aware of his presence, saying that the controversy over his presence in the country, "may be a completely manufactured issue," and that Posada "might not have been in the United States." Since leaving the State Department, he has lobbied U.S. representatives to support Venezuelan opposition leaders such as
Leopoldo Lopez Leopoldo is a given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese form of the English, German, Dutch, Polish, and Slovene name, Leopold. Notable people with the name include: *Leopoldo de' Medici (1617–1675), Italian cardinal and Governor of Sien ...
and
María Corina Machado María Corina Machado Parisca (born 7 October 1967, Machado, María CorinaMi experiencia. Es ahora. María Corina. Accessed 25 April 2010. sometimes referred to as MCM) is a Venezuelan politician who served as an elected member of the National ...
. Notable clients represented by Noriega include multi-billion dollar global hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, which Noriega assisted through "federal advocacy on behalf of US investors in Latin America", and political interest group Moroccan American Center for Policy, providing assistance and support for the settlement of Western Sahara issue. In 2008, Noriega partnered with Venezuelan exile and former PDVSA & IMF employee Martin Rodil to form a private risk assessment and lobbying firm called Vision Americas, through which, in 2009, he was hired as a U.S. lobbyist by an organization of the private sector of Honduras during the 2009 Honduran coup d'état when President
Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya/ref> is a Honduran politician who was President of Honduras from 27 January 2006 until 28 June 2009, and who since January 2022 serves as the first Fir ...
was ousted. According to the disclosure form, Noriega and Vision Americas were hired to "Support the efforts of the Honduran private sector to help consolidate the democratic transition in their country". Noriega had previously claimed that the democratically elected Zelaya posed a threat to the region because Honduras was ground zero in what he described as "the continued spread of
Chavista ''Chavismo'' (from es, chavismo), also known in English as Chavism or Chavezism, is a left-wing political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the Venezuelan President between 1999 and 2013 Hugo Chávez th ...
authoritarianism under the guise of democracy". Other lobbying activities conducted by Roger Noriega through Vision Americas include a $25,000 contract in 2010 with Venezuelan firm Alodiga, claiming to "support the client's registration and regulatory issues", and a $45,000 contract in 2016 with the Haitian branch of global industrial, financial, supply chain, and telecommunications giant GB Group, owned by billionaire opportunist and prospector
Gilbert Bigio Gilbert Bigio is a retired Haitian businessman. He is the founder of GB Group and Haiti's only billionaire. He was sanctioned by the Government of Canada for his involvement in arms trafficking and human rights violations in Haiti. Bigio is als ...
which specified an initiative related to "educating U.S. stakeholders about the economic opportunities of a modern port system in Haiti". Noriega signed the ''
Madrid Charter The ''Madrid Charter: In Defense of Freedom and Democracy in the Iberosphere'' ( Spanish: ''Carta de Madrid: en defensa de la libertad y la democracia en la Iberosfera''), also known as the ''Letter from Madrid'', was a manifesto created on 26 O ...
'', a document drafted by the
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Spanish political party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of
Ibero-America Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Portugal or Spain). ...
involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".


References


External links


American Enterprise Institute profile on Roger Noriega
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Noriega, Roger 1959 births Living people Politicians from Wichita, Kansas Washburn University alumni United States Assistant Secretaries of State American politicians of Mexican descent Permanent Representatives of the United States to the Organization of American States American Enterprise Institute Hispanic and Latino American diplomats Kansas Republicans Signers of the Madrid Charter