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"Security, Democracy, & Stability in Latin America & the Caribbean"
Ambassador John Maisto
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Planned Remarks:
Ambassador Maisto will address the current status and challenges for U.S. policy in regards to democracy, security, and stability in Latin America.
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Speaker's Biography:
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| Amb. John F. Maisto
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Ambassador John F. Maisto led U.S. diplomacy at the Organization of American States (OAS) as U.S. Permanent Representative from July 2003 to December 2006. In 2003, he was also named by President George W. Bush to be the U.S. Coordinator for the Summit of the Americas, and he coordinated the President’s participation in Summits in Monterrey, Mexico, 2004, and Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2005.
At the OAS he ensured funding and OAS focus on strengthening democracy, human rights, anti-terrorism, counter narcotics, election observation, and, a first, providing each Haitian a voter identification document. He supervised the 2005 Ft. Lauderdale OAS General Assembly, the first hosted by the U.S. in 31 years, attended by the President, Secretary of State, and 33 hemispheric ministers.
Ambassador Maisto served as Special Assistant to President Bush and as Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council for Dr. Condoleezza Rice from January, 2001, to April, 2003. He organized the President’s 2001 Quebec Summit participation and his visits to Mexico, Peru, and El Salvador. He managed country policy reviews, including for the $1.6 billion Plan Colombia. He coordinated policy with U.S. negotiators on trade agreements, and with Treasury Department leadership on support for key hemispheric countries at the IMF, World Bank, and Interamerican Development Bank.
He was Foreign Policy Adviser at the U.S. Southern Command, 2000-2001. As Ambassador to Venezuela, 1997-2000, he led energy diplomacy with the U.S.’s 4th largest oil-provider, established working relations with newly-elected Hugo Chavez, and directed a U.S. $11 million flood/mudslide disaster relief effort.
As Ambassador to strife-torn Nicaragua, 1993-1996, he directed $100 million in new U.S. aid to consolidate democracy, address education and health needs, and stimulate growth, and he oversaw the ongoing U.S. aid package of $900 million. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central America, 1992-1993, he worked with Congress to ensure post-conflict funding, supervised U.S. cooperation with two United Nations-mandated human rights commissions in El Salvador, resulting in hundreds of military dismissals, and directed the first-ever U.S. contact with Guatemalan rebels to advance stalled peace negotiations. At the OAS as Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative, 1990 to 1992, he spearheaded the OAS taking the lead, with U.S. funding, for resettlement in former conflict areas, human rights monitoring, and de-mining.
In Panama as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires, 1986-1989, he led Embassy efforts to engage the democratic opposition throughout transition from narco-military dictatorship to elected government.
As head of the State Department’s Philippine Affairs Office, 1984-1986, he directed the review, analysis, strategic planning, and development of U.S. policy toward the Marcos dictatorship and the transition to democracy, including public diplomacy and media outreach. He advised, assisted, and accompanied President Reagan’s Special Envoy, Philip Habib, in two trouble-shooting missions that were instrumental in the transition.
His previous experience included U.S. embassies in the Philippines, Costa Rica, and Bolivia, and country desk and staff positions at the State Department and the Pentagon. He worked with U.S. Information Agency binational centers in Argentina and Bolivia.
Ambassador Maisto has spoken and written extensively on U.S. policy in the Americas, U.S.–Philippine relations, democratic transition, hemispheric security, democracy, human rights, competitiveness, trade, economic development, and education. He is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese and Italian.
Ambassador Maisto is a Director of the Miami-based U.S. Education Finance Group (USEFG) and a Board member of the Washington-based International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). He is a Board member of ECI, a Central American resort and retirement development company. He is also a member of the Board of Advisers of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C. and of the Democracy Practitioners Network of the Organization of American States.
A native of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Ambassador Maisto has a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. He has an MA in Latin American History from San Carlos University, Guatemala, where he studied as a recipient of a Smith-Mundt Grant. He is married to Maria Consuelo Gaston Maisto. They have a son and two daughters.
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World Affairs Council of the Florida Palm Beaches
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