Arturo Valenzuela

Arturo A. Valenzuela (born 23 January 1944 ) is a Chilean-American academic who was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs from November 5, 2009, until August 2011. His confirmation had been blocked by Senator Jim DeMint (R, SC) due to a dispute over President Barack Obama's approach to the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis. He previously served as Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He was previously Professor of Political Science and Director of the Council on Latin American Studies at Duke University. In May 2011 it was reported that Valenzuela would be leaving his government post later that summer to return to his academic activities. He officially left office at the end of August 2011.

Early life

Valenzuela was born Arturo Arms Valenzuela Bowie in Concepción, During the next eight years, he went back to visit his family in Chile only once. He earned a B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science and Religion from Drew University in 1965 and then obtained an M.A. (1967) and Doctorate (1971) in Political Science focusing on Comparative Politics from Columbia University. His doctoral thesis was entitled Clientelistic Politics in Chile: An Analysis of Center Local Linkages.

Valenzuela is married to Kathryn Mudge. He has two children from his first marriage.

Valenzuela has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University, the University of Sussex, the University of Florence (Italy) and the Catholic University of Chile. He has served on the board of directors of Drew University, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the advisory boards of Americas Watch and the Institut des Amériques in Paris.

For his diplomatic contributions Valenzuela has been honored Brazil's Order of the Southern Cross and Colombia's Order of Boyaca.