Roger Noriega gets top Latin Post

Good trade-off -- Senate Confirmation for Travel to Cuba Bill!!

snippet:
The confirmation of Roger Noriega came as a surprise, even as behind-the-scenes negotiations had intensified in recent days in an effort to move forward with President Bush's choice as assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs.

Noriega's confirmation had been stalled by a series of political maneuvers. Until late Tuesday the Senate had not confirmed any nominee for the high-level State Department post in more than five years. The unanimous approval came through a voice vote late Tuesday as the Senate headed toward its summer recess later this week.

Earlier the nomination had been put on an indefinite ''hold'' by Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, who wanted an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor on his proposed legislation to lift travel restrictions to Cuba.

But after days of negotiations, he agreed to a compromise: lift the hold in exchange for a markup and vote on his proposed legislation in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this fall. If the legislation is approved by the committee, it would automatically move to the Senate floor for a vote.
more....

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6419253.htm

or more to the point, what kind of horrible things has he done to be awarded this position?

(snip) Noriega was Jesse Helms’ Latin America advisor in the late-nineties and thrived working for a man who had never met a right-wing—as opposed to left-wing—dictator with whom he felt uncomfortable. Helms had long been a staunch ally of extremist hemispheric military rulers, including Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Raoul Cedras in Haiti, and Roberto D'Aubuisson in El Salvador. When shown evidence that D'Aubuisson personally directed death squads to murder his civilian opponents, including the country’s Catholic Archbishop, Helms replied “All I know is that D’Aubuisson is a free enterprise man and deeply religious.” In response to the contras killing doctors and nurses in Nicaragua, Helm’s responded, “Well—they’re just Communists—they deserve to die.”



This relationship with Jesse Helms, which made him into a role model for Noriega, could prove dangerous, for the nominee is not a man of independent ideas or convictions, but someone who takes on the coloration of his immediate environment. He obtained his job as ambassador to the OAS through the influence of Jesse Helms as well as Luigi Einaudi, who had himself been this country’s OAS representative before becoming the Assistant Secretary General of the organization, his current position.



Who is Noriega?

Roger Noriega was not nominated for the Assistant Secretary position because he was a compelling candidate; rather, his choice was entirely political and in spite of himself. He got the appointment not because of his exceedingly modest talents, but because of who he knew, in the classical Tammany Hall fashion. Due to his heavily tainted background from the contra era and his blustering and minatory personality, Otto Reich, who previously held the position for which Noriega has been nominated, could not win Senate confirmation. As solace, Reich was named Presidential Envoy to the Americas, operating out of the National Security Council. Although this position was not meant to be operational or substantive, but mainly a sop to Reich, he had other things in mind. He has since been very active in arm-twisting Latin American nations to join the “coalition of the willing,” with mixed results.



Due to Reich’s strong identification with Miami’s right-wing exile community, it’s hard-line Cuban-American leaders were adamant that a person like Noriega replace Reich so as not to appear that they had lost their influence with the White House now that Reich was being ousted from his position. Florida’s Jeb Bush helped in this effort with his brother, just as he had originally done with the Reich appointment. It can now be expected that Reich will exercise considerable influence over the actions and decisions of his colleague and ideological ally, Noriega; since the latter doesn’t have Reich’s forcefulness, depth of convictions, or his much stronger personality and risk-taking predilection, and because Reich’s connections with the administration are so much more politically entrenched, there is little question that the Cuban-American zealot will dominate his Mexican-American associate, with the latter being little more than a bat-boy for the slugger. It can be said of Noriega that he is Otto Reich without the experience, craftiness and connections. Rather, Noriega is a survivor whose ascending resumé was built on artfully serving the interests of those more talented then himself and in higher positions, a matter of affirmative action run wild. (snip/...)

http://www.coha.org/Press_Releases/03.20%20Noriega.html

(snip) Earlier the nomination had been put on an indefinite ''hold'' by Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, who wanted an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor on his proposed legislation to lift travel restrictions to Cuba.

But after days of negotiations, he agreed to a compromise: lift the hold in exchange for a markup and vote on his proposed legislation in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this fall. If the legislation is approved by the committee, it would automatically move to the Senate floor for a vote.

''We expect it to pass the committee overwhelmingly,'' said Laura Hays, a spokeswoman for Baucus. ``This is great accomplishment.''
(snip/)

Thanks, guajira! Very decent news to get concerning Baucus's progress on the Cuba travel ban.

any idea of how much a chance it has of passing?

to pass it, and all that would likely stop it is Bush's veto, which he has indicated he would use.

The next step is overriding the veto, and I've heard some think that's definitely do-able. Can always hope!