Michael Kozak

Michael G. Kozak (born September 18, 1946) is an American diplomat in the United States Department of State who had served as the Senior Bureau Official for Western Hemisphere Affairs. He had served Acting Assistant Secretary from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Belarus between 2000 and 2003 and chief of mission at the United States Interests Section in Havana between 1996 and 1999, and was a nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador in 1991. He achieved a measure of prominence in the 1980s for his attempts to negotiate with Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega to leave power.

Diplomatic work 1970s international negotiation and mediation During the 1970s, Kozak served as a negotiator on the Panama Canal Treaties during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations. The memo included points that could be used to justify a decision to prohibit entry.

Between 1982 and 1988, Kozak became a principal deputy assistant secretary of state level official in the Office of the Legal Advisor. As Chile was unwilling to submit to a determination by a U.S. tribunal, Kozak proposed invoking the arbitration clause of the 1914 Chile-United States peace treaty, and Chile agreed.

In October 1985, Kozak testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs about recourse available to the United States government and U.S. citizens for the Achille Lauro terrorist attack.

Panama and Noriega and Central America Between 1988 and 1991, Kozak held a principal deputy assistant secretary of state role in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs.

In early 1988, Kozak had been sent to Panama repeatedly to try to negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government directly with Panamanian President Manuel Noriega, attempting to settle on terms under which Noreiga would step down. Kozak continued with the talks and delivered an ultimatum for Noreiga to agree to by May 25, 1988, but Noriega refused and the U.S. military eventually invaded the country. He also helped Secretary of State James Baker implement a bipartisan agreement on Central America designed to help end the conflict in Nicaragua.

U.S. ambassador to El Salvador nomination In April 1991, Kozak was nominated to be U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. They also disliked the way in which Kozak had helped resolve the Contra situation in Nicaragua.

Chief of Mission in Cuba In 1996, Kozak, as the new chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, led a 100th anniversary commemoration of the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine, hosted American media at his house during a visit by the Pope, and interfaced with the Cuban Ministry of the Interior when requesting their information on a group allegedly financed by Cuban Americans that attempted attacks in Cuba.

Haiti In March 1993, Kozak was a deputy to U.S. Special Advisor Lawrence Pezzullo on issues related to Haiti and the deposition of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

U.S. ambassador to Belarus On April 6, 2000, President Bill Clinton announced his intention to nominate Kozak to be U.S. Ambassador to Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko made Kozak wait several months before arranging for Kozak to present his credentials for official recognition as ambassador.

In 2001, Kozak and Hans Georg Vik, the head of OSCE mission in Minsk, pushed for political opposition parties in Belarus to unite around a single leader, Uladzimir Hancharyk, the leader of the Trade Union Federation. Hancharyk did not gain widespread popular support, and was seen as a "remnant of the old Soviet days of privilege and Party control".

In November 2002, Kozak spoke before a conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute and charged that Belarus President Lukashenko was illegally selling arms to the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Between 2005 and 2009, Kozak was a senior director on the National Security Council staff, with responsibility for democracy, human rights, international organizations, migration and detainee issues.

Between September 2017 and September 2019, Kozak held the title of Senior Bureau Official for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.