US posts top spy as envoy amid Asia pivot

From the Daily Tribune (Aug 2): US posts top spy as envoy amid Asia pivot

Amid negotiations between the US and Philippine governments for a rotational basing arrangement which is key to the American policy pivot to Asia, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the government has accepted the nomination of new US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg who has a con-troversial record in his diplo-matic career.

Prior to his posting to the country, Goldberg was Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) to which he was appointed Feb. 16, 2010 under the Obama administration.

Goldberg’s most recent foreign posting was as US Ambassador to Bolivia where he was expelled in 2008 for allegedly fomenting civil unrest against Bolivia’s first indigenous Indian president, Evo Morales. Morales, thereafter, declared Goldberg “persona non grata.”

Morales accused Goldberg of conspiring against democracy and seeking the division of Bolivia after Goldberg was found to have met with  Ruben Costas, the governor of Bolivia’s richest province, Santa Cruz, which sought autonomy and has threatened secession.

Morales associated the meeting between Goldberg and Costas to the subsequent heightening of protests against him that escalated to the burning and pillaging government offices in city of Santa Cruz, which was followed by an attack on a gas pipeline that feeds neighboring Brazil, which is a major source of government revenues.

Washington denied the Bolivian President’s charges against Goldberg and branded these as “baseless.”

Del Rosario said the government has accorded Goldberg a letter of approval of a diplomatic representative or an agrement which recognizes his designation as representative of the US government.

President Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Philippines expects a “warm relationship” with the United States under Goldberg’s tenure, he replaces outgoing ambassador Harry Thomas.

“We have a very good and warm relationship with the US under Ambassador Harry Thomas. We would also expect a warm relationship with the US under Ambassador designate Goldberg. He is going to undergo confirmation yet. So it will be sometime before we will see him here in the Philippines,” Lacierda said.

“(His appointment) will be subject to confirmation before the US Senate, so we don’t know yet how soon he will come here,” Lacierda said.

Once his nomination is confirmed by the US Senate, Goldberg will replace Harry Thomas Jr. who ends his three-year tour of duty this year.

Until June 2010, he served concurrently as the Coordinator for Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1874 on North Korea.

Goldberg served as Ambassador to Bolivia (2006-2008), Chief of Mission in Pristina, Kosovo (2004-2006) and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Santiago, Chile (2001-2004).

Ambassador Goldberg, a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, served from January-June 2001 as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.

He came to that position after having been a senior member of the State Department team handling the transition from the Clinton to Bush Administrations.

Goldberg served as Special Assistant (1996-1998) and then Executive Assistant (1998-2000) to Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. From 1994-1996, he was the Department’s Bosnia Desk Officer and was a member of the American negotiating team in the lead-up to the Dayton Peace Conference and Chief of Staff for the American Delegation at Dayton.

Goldberg has served overseas as a consular and political officer at the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, and political-economic officer in Pretoria, South Africa.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Goldberg worked for several years as a liaison officer between the City of New York and the United Nations and consular community. He is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Boston University. He speaks fluent Spanish.

As Assistant Secretary of State for INR, Goldberg led one of 16 elements in the US intelligence community. INR’s primary mission is to harness intelligence to serve US diplomacy.

Del Rosario added the United States will increase its annual military aid to the Philippines by $20 million, or from $30 million a year to about $50 million starting the next fiscal year.

The approximately two-thirds increase in military aid is the highest amount since US troops returned to the Philippines in 2000 after withdrawing in 1992.

“For military financing, it’s an allocation that is worked out by the US Congress, and it’s usually for acquisition and maintenance,” Del Rosario told reporters.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/17412-us-posts-top-spy-as-envoy-amid-asia-pivot