Outspoken Latin America envoy resigning (Roger Noriega)

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sat, Jul. 30, 2005

STATE DEPARTMENT

Outspoken Latin America envoy resigning

Roger Noriega, the main U.S. envoy for Latin America, announced his resignation after more than two years in the post.

BY PABLO BACHELET
[email protected]

WASHINGTON - Roger Noriega, a staunch opponent of Cuban leader Fidel Castro who rose from humble beginnings to become an often-criticized top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, announced his resignation on Friday.
(snip0

Earlier in the day, the 46-year old Noriega ended months of speculation about his resignation by sending an e-mail to friends and acquaintances saying he was leaving his position as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere to seek ``new and exciting challenges in the private sector beginning in September.''
(snip)

Noriega is a third-generation Mexican-American from Wichita, Kansas. Between 1994 and 2001, he became known for his work on two key congressional committees, first as an aide to the House International Relations Committee where he helped draft the Helms-Burton Act, which toughened the embargo on Cuba, and then as a staffer for Sen. Jesse Helms on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
(snip)

But many viewed Noriega as a conservative ideologue well-versed in the ways of Washington politics, but out of touch with Latin American realities.

Riordan Roett, who heads the Western Hemisphere program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said in an e-mail that Noriega was ``an individual clearly marked by his ideological preference, he inspired little confidence in South America, an area about which he knew little and learned less during his tenure.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/12261065.htm
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[Webster Green]

1. Good riddance....he's an idiot , asshole, tool for ChimpCo Inc.

He's part of the criminal gang that fucked over Haiti recently.

I'm sure the chimp has someone even worse lined up for the job.

[Robeson]

2. They'll just install another fascist. Meet the new boss same as the old..

...boss.

[EFerrari]

3. Hey, this is good news.

It'll take them fifteen minutes to find another vendido. But, I'll take the fifteen minutes.

[mom cat]

4. Don't let the door hit you on the back side!

[IndianaGreen]

5. "he knew little and learned less during his tenure"

Roger Noriega may have been the darling of the Miami gusanos and the Venezuelan elites, but as Riordan Roett said, Noriega's knowledge about Latin America was virtually non-existent, so blinded by his own ideology that he didn't want any facts to get in the way.

[struggle4progress]

6. ".. Noriega .. is expected to .. be replaced by Thomas Shannon .."

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Politics/Headlines/03PoliticsPOL04073005.htm

[mountebank]

7. Anyone know about Thomas Shannon? n/t