Viron P. Vaky

Viron Peter Vaky (September 13, 1925 – November 22, 2012 ) was an American diplomat who was United States Ambassador to Costa Rica (1972–74), Colombia (1974–76), and Venezuela. He was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and Council on Foreign Relations.

Life Career Viron P. Vaky was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on September 13, 1925, as a son of Greek immigrants. During the Second World War, he was part of the Army Signal Corps, while graduating from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in 1947. One year later, he obtained an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago. In 1949, Vaky joined the Foreign Service and went on to serve as career diplomat until 1980, when he retired from the State Department. Following this, he taught at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, ultimately becoming an associate dean.

Opposition to overthrow of Allende Documents declassified and made available in 2013 show that in September 1970, when Vaky was the top deputy to Henry Kissinger, Vaky took a stand against Kissinger's plan to overthrow Salvador Allende who was the democratically elected president of Chile. According to the account published on the National Security Archive, Vaky wrote a memo to Kissinger arguing that plotting a coup would lead to "widespread violence and even insurrection." He also argued that such a policy was immoral: "What we propose is patently a violation of our own principles and policy tenets.... If these principles have any meaning, we normally depart from them only to meet the gravest threat to us, e.g. to our survival. Is Allende a mortal threat to the U.S.? It is hard to argue this."

Embezzlement accusations against Debayle Following the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake Vaky accused then Army Chief Anastasio Somoza Debayle of exploiting international aid for personal gain. Debayle denied these accusations and was later validated when Terence Todman, Secretary of State for Inter-American affairs testified that 28 major audits failed to demonstrate any diversion or misuse of resources.

Family He had three sons, including Paul Vaky who became regional director for Central and Eastern Europe for the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) in the United States Department of Justice.

Positions

US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (1978–79) US Ambassador to Venezuela (1976) US Ambassador to Colombia (1974–76) US Ambassador to Costa Rica (1972–74) US National Security Council (1969–70) American Academy of Diplomacy Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Council on Foreign Relations Inter-American Dialogue