Mark Falcoff is a resident scholar at AEI. He has taught at the universities of Illinois, Oregon, and California (Los Angeles), as well as at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. He has also been a fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations.  During the 99th Congress, he served on the staff of the Senate committee on Foreign Relations. His recent books include Panama’s Canal: What Happens When the United States Gives a Small Country What It Wants and A Culture of Its Own: Taking Latin America Seriously. The AEI Press has just published his new book, Cuba the Morning After: Confronting Castro’s Legacy. He is the author of a monthly AEI newsletter, Latin American Outlook.

Roger F. Noriega was nominated by President George W. Bush for assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and sworn in on July 31, 2003. Ambassador Noriega is responsible for managing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the region. Before becoming assistant secretary, Ambassador Noriega served as U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States from 2001 to 2003, where he worked with hemispheric leaders to strengthen democracy, advance human rights, foster economic integration, and promote peace and security throughout the Western Hemisphere. He has also served as a senior staff member for the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate, senior staff member for the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives, and in the Department of State with USAID and the Bureaus for Inter-American Affairs and Public Affairs. He has received numerous awards, including the Gran Master of the Order of the Sun decoration from the government of Peru (2001); membership to the Order of José de Marcoleta from the president of Nicaragua (2003); the Ambassador of the Year Award from the Greater Washington Ibero-American Chamber of Commerce  (2003); and the Circle of Excellence Award from the Latino Coalition.