Speaker Biographies
January 18, 2006
Eric Farnsworth is vice president of the Council of the Americas and leads the Washington-based efforts of the council, including policy development and advocacy, programming, and public affairs. As the premier organization dedicated to the promotion of policy and commercial interests in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Council includes over 170 corporate members and has been a leading voice for forty years in efforts to promote free markets and free people throughout the hemisphere. In addition to his council activities, Mr. Farnsworth maintains an active role in policy and trade matters. He is a member of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy of the U.S. Department of State; Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies; a member of the George Washington University Western Hemisphere Advisory Board; a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and the past chairman (2000–2002) of the Greater Washington Board of Trade Western Hemisphere Task Force. He has written and spoken extensively about United States’ interests in the hemisphere, providing press commentary on regional and trade policy issues to media outlets such as CNN, BBC, and numerous newspapers.
Murray Smith was appointed in January 2005 as the official representative of the Province of Alberta to the United States of America. He leads the newly established Alberta Office in Washington, D.C., located in the Canadian Embassy. Prior to his diplomatic posting, Murray served for twelve years as a member of the Legislative Assembly in the Province of Alberta, Canada (winning three consecutive elections in Calgary, Alberta). Premier Ralph Klein, provincial leader of Alberta, appointed Smith to four different Cabinet portfolios––energy, gaming, labour, and economic development. As minister of energy (2001–2004), Murray was responsible for gaining international recognition of Alberta’s 176 billion barrels of established oil reserves, including 174 billion barrels of oil sands reserve. Murray also served as minister of gaming (1999–2001) and minister for labour (1996–1999). In his first cabinet-level post, as minister of economic development (1994–1996), he initiated the largest industrial tax reduction in the province’s history. He was a member of the Cabinet Committee Treasury Board and a main contributor to the province’s Debt Retirement Plan, which led the province to become the first debt-free jurisdiction in Canada. Before serving Albertans as an elected member of the Alberta Legislature in 1993, Murray was an independent businessman. He owned and started a number of Alberta-based energy and retail companies.
Roger F. Noriega is a visiting fellow coordinating AEI’s program on Western Hemisphere issues. Twice appointed by President George W. Bush (and confirmed by the U.S. Senate) and with ten-year career on Capitol Hill, Mr. Noriega’s breadth of experience and contacts offers strategic vision and practical insight on the Americas. As assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Mr. Noriega managed a 3,000-person team of professionals in Washington and fifty diplomatic posts to design and implement political and economic strategies in Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. As U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, Mr. Noriega coordinated complex and sensitive multilateral diplomacy in a thirty-four-member international organization to bolster OAS efforts to promote trade, fight illicit drugs, and defend democracy. Mr. Noriega has held various other positions as well: senior policy advisor with the U.S. Mission to the OAS; various program management and public affairs positions with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State; press secretary and foreign policy advisor for U.S. Representative Robert Whittaker (R-Kansas); and research assistant for the secretary of state of Kansas.
Steve Walsh is vice president of government and legislative affairs at AES Corporation. Mr. Walsh joined AES in 1999, serving in both the distribution and generation sectors. In 2001 he was selected to lead AES's business operations in Bogota, Colombia. In July of 2004, Mr. Walsh was recalled to active military service at presidential direction to manage the rebuilding of the electricity grid in Iraq for the U.S. Mission in Baghdad. He served in this capacity until May 2005, when he returned to AES to serve in his current role. Prior to AES, Mr. Walsh served as an active duty U.S. Marine officer for twenty years, primarily in special operations assignments overseas.
View Event Details
