April 14, 2004

Speaker biographies

Roger F. Noriega is the assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. Ambassador Noriega is responsible for managing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the region. Before becoming assistant secretary, he was the U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States from 2001 to 2003. While at the OAS, he worked with hemispheric leaders to strengthen democracy, advance human rights, foster economic integration, and promote peace and security throughout the western hemisphere. Before his appointment to the OAS, Ambassador Noriega was a senior staff member for the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate. From 1994 to 1997, he was a senior staff member for the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ambassador Noriega was also the senior policy adviser and alternate U.S. representative at the U.S. Mission to the OAS from 1990 through 1993 and the senior adviser for public information at the OAS from 1993 to 1994.

Mark Falcoff is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He has taught at the universities of Illinois, Oregon, and California-Los Angeles and 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; A Culture of Its Own: Taking Latin America Seriously; and Cuba the Morning After, which was published by AEI in 2003. His AEI newsletter, Latin American Outlook is published monthly.

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