Statement by the Press Secretary

National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice announced today the appointment of Ambassador John F. Maisto as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, effective January 22.

Ambassador Maisto served as Ambassador to Venezuela from 1997-2000, and most recently was Foreign Policy Advisor at the U.S. Southern Command. He previously served as Ambassador to Nicaragua from 1993-96. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central American Affairs, 1992-93; and Deputy U.S. Representative to the Organization of American States, 1989-92. Earlier, he served in Panama as Deputy Chief of Mission, as Director of the State Department's Office of Philippine Affairs, and at American Embassies in Manila, San Jose, and La Paz. He was in the U.S. Information Agency in Argentina and Bolivia, and has been a career Foreign Service Officer since 1968.

A native of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Ambassador Maisto has a B.S. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and a M.A. from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala. He and his wife, Maria Consuelo Gaston Maisto, have one son and two daughters.