Arturo Valenzuela: Looking Back to Look Ahead

Part One of a Two Part Memorandum: Preparing for the Job – What’s at Stake for the Region

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held an initial hearing on July 8 concerning President Barack Obama’s nomination of Dr. Arturo Valenzuela to the position of Assistant Secretary of State and head of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. However, a narrowly-led effort in the Senate initiated by Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) marred Valenzuela’s nomination from being moved to the Senate floor, where he most likely would have been overwhelmingly confirmed before the summer recess set in. The Senate will reconvene on September 8, when it could then take up the Valenzuela nomination as one of its first orders of business.

When finally confirmed, Valenzuela will sit in the seat occupied by Dr. Thomas Shannon during the latter part of the Bush presidency and into the b eginning of Obama’s term. Shannon is currently the Obama nominee for the position of U.S. ambassador to Brazil. The Valenzuela nomination could not come at a more opportune moment in recent U.S.-Latin America history, as the region has been seriously roiled by a string of inappropriate policymakers under the Bush administration, who operated against the background of the distractions posed by Iraq. As a result of the inauguration of President Obama, Valenzuela’s assumption of the Assistant Secretary of State position has the potential to redefine Washington’s relationship with the rest of the hemisphere.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Natalie Pullen with COHA Research Associate William Mathis