Reaction muted among Latin UN diplomats to Rice’s move
Reaction muted among Latin UN diplomats to Rice’s move
AS/COA’s Eric Farnsworth comments on Susan Rice’s limited impact on the Americas during her tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
UNITED NATIONS - Response was mostly muted Wednesday among Latin American and Caribbean delegations after the announcement that U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice will soon leave her United Nations post to become President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser.
In July, when the U.S. assumes the presidency of the Security Council, Samantha Power, a former senior member of the White House national security team, will replace Rice at the U.N., Obama announced.
Guatemala ambassador Gert Rosenthal, a fellow member of the Security Council, gave Rice “high marks” as ambassador.
“I cannot speak for all Latin America, but for my own part I can tell you that we will miss Susan,” Rosenthal told The Miami Herald. “She always had a broader vision regarding the Security Council’s impact on the policy goals trying to be met, and on taking on board the positions of other countries in order to achieve consensus....”
The praise for Rice’s work is likely to be shared by others on the Security Council but not broadly in the region, where her impact has been limited, says an expert on the Americas.
“I’m not aware that [Rice] has taken major action or worked through the U.N. on Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Eric Farnsworth, head of the Washington office of the Americas Society/Council of Americas, a think tank on political, social and economic topics affecting the region.
“She does not have much of a profile and it’s not been the top priority,” Farnsworth said....
