Pubdate: Tue, 23 Jan 2001
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2001 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260
Fax: (713) 220-3575
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author: Michael Hedges

BUSH PICKS ADVISER ON LATIN AMERICA

WASHINGTON - A former ambassador to Venezuela with foreign service 
experience in Central America was named by President Bush on Monday to be 
his top adviser on Latin America.

John Maisto, 62, a career diplomat, finished a posting as ambassador to 
Venezuela last year. Since then Maisto has served as an adviser to the U.S. 
military's Southern Command.

Maisto was deputy assistant secretary of state for Central America in 
1992-1993. He has been a career foreign service officer since 1968.

The selection of Maisto underscored the need for the Bush administration to 
pay special attention to relations with Venezuela, experts said.

"Venezuela is going to be one of the international focal points for the 
U.S. over the next few years," said George Vickers, director of the 
Washington Office on Latin America, a foreign policy think tank.

"He is a seasoned career diplomat with very good judgment, who has handled 
a couple of difficult postings to countries going through crises," Vickers 
said.

Bush announced Monday that his first foreign trip will be a visit with 
Mexican President Vicente Fox on Feb. 16 at the Fox family ranch, San 
Cristobal, north of Mexico City.

"This meeting will be an opportunity to begin the process of achieving 
closer ties between the United States and Mexico and expanding areas of 
cooperation," said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer. Bush will travel to Canada 
in April for a hemispheric summit meeting and will make other trips to 
South America in the near future, the White House said.

For the past year, Maisto has been working with Southern Command in Miami, 
which is training Colombian army battalions for an offensive against 
narco-traffickers who have been protected by leftist guerrillas in southern 
Colombia.

Maisto is also experienced with dealing with Venezuelan President Hugo 
Chavez, the leftist leaning leader of the oil rich nation whose exports of 
energy are crucial to the U.S. economy.

Chavez has strained relations with the United States during his two years 
as president by increasing ties with Cuba and by visiting Iraq and Libya on 
OPEC oil cartel business. He has been critical of U.S. support for 
Colombia's battle with cocaine and heroin dealers who are protected by 
Marxist guerrillas.

Maisto has a "nuanced understanding of what is going on in Venezuela and 
Colombia," said Vickers. "(Maisto) is a good pick for a delicate job at a 
critical time."
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