Juan Carlos Zarate is an American attorney and security advisor who served as the deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism during 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 the chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, and as senior adviser at the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

. In his previous role, Zarate worked on the Bush administration's counterterrorism strategy.

Early life and education

The son of a Mexican father and Cuban mother, Zarate was born and raised in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

and graduated from Mater Dei High School. Zarate graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. He studied as a Rotary International Fellow at the Universidad de Salamanca,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Zarate wrote his thesis on the effects of U.S. foreign policy on democracy in Latin America. In law school, he focused on international law and security issues and wrote his third-year paper on the use of private military contractors in war.

Career

Prior to joining the NSC, Zarate served as the

Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing The Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is an office of the United States government within the United States Treasury Department. Establishment and responsibilities The office of Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is statutorily ...

and Financial Crimes where he led Treasury's domestic and international efforts to disrupt terrorist financing, built comprehensive anti-money laundering systems, and expanded the use of Treasury powers to advance

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

interests. He led the U.S. government's global efforts to seize

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

's assets, resulting in the return of over $3 billion of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i assets from the U.S. and around the world. Prior to working at the Department of the Treasury, Zarate served as a prosecutor in the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

’s Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, where he worked on the investigation. In June 2014, he accepted an appointment to the Board that oversees the Vatican's

Institute for the Works of Religion The Institute for the Works of Religion ( it, Istituto per le Opere di Religione; la, Institutum pro Operibus Religionis; abbreviated IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial institution situated inside Vatican City and run by a ...

("IOR"), a move announced by Cardinal Pell of the Vatican Finance Ministry as part of Pope Francis I's efforts to clean up the finances of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. Zarate currently sits on the advisory board for nonprofit America Abroad Media.

Publications

Zarate is the author of two books: ''Forging Democracy'', a book on the impact of U.S. foreign policy on democratization in Central America (), and ''Treasury's War: The Unleashing Of A New Era Of Financial Warfare'', about the use of financial power to counter terrorism ().

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarate, Juan Living people Harvard Law School alumni American people of Basque descent American politicians of Cuban descent American politicians of Mexican descent University of Salamanca alumni People from Santa Ana, California United States Department of Justice officials George W. Bush administration personnel Terrorism in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) CBS News people Latino conservatism in the United States