Alberto Fernandez (United States Official)
Encyclopedia
Alberto Fernandez is US Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea since February 2010. Previously he was Charge D'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. He was the director of the office of press and public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
at the United States Department of State
from August 2005 to May 2007. As one of the few to speak fluent Arabic at the U.S. State Department, he has become the mouthpiece for U.S. policy in the Middle East. A Newsweek profile pegged him as averaging about 200 interviews a year. (An example dialogue/interview.
In an interview on Al-Jazeera on October 21, 2006 he asserted that "I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq." His comments were widely reported in the US and international press.
The State Department initially reacted by denying that he had made the comments, claiming that they had been "mistranslated." After independent translators confirmed the translation as being correct, a press release issued by the State Department quoted an apology from Fernandez: "Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq. This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I apologize".
His apology was satirized by newspaper columnist Bill Shein in an October 26, 2007 column called, "The No Candor Zone."
Fernandez is a recipient of the State Department's 2006 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, the Superior Honor Award in 2003 for his work in Afghanistan, and the 1996 Linguist of the Year Award, among many others. He has published in Middle East Quarterly, ReVista the Harvard Review of Latin America, and the Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society (JAAS). He has also lectured at numerous U.S. universities and presented papers at conferences of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), and Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CISD). He is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Defense Language Institute. Fluent in Arabic (4/3+), Spanish (5/5) and English, is married and has two sons.
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nations of the Near East.-Duties:The Bureau handles U.S...
at the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
from August 2005 to May 2007. As one of the few to speak fluent Arabic at the U.S. State Department, he has become the mouthpiece for U.S. policy in the Middle East. A Newsweek profile pegged him as averaging about 200 interviews a year. (An example dialogue/interview.
In an interview on Al-Jazeera on October 21, 2006 he asserted that "I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq." His comments were widely reported in the US and international press.
The State Department initially reacted by denying that he had made the comments, claiming that they had been "mistranslated." After independent translators confirmed the translation as being correct, a press release issued by the State Department quoted an apology from Fernandez: "Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq. This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I apologize".
His apology was satirized by newspaper columnist Bill Shein in an October 26, 2007 column called, "The No Candor Zone."
Fernandez is a recipient of the State Department's 2006 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, the Superior Honor Award in 2003 for his work in Afghanistan, and the 1996 Linguist of the Year Award, among many others. He has published in Middle East Quarterly, ReVista the Harvard Review of Latin America, and the Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society (JAAS). He has also lectured at numerous U.S. universities and presented papers at conferences of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), and Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CISD). He is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Defense Language Institute. Fluent in Arabic (4/3+), Spanish (5/5) and English, is married and has two sons.
Timeline
- 1958 - born Havana, Cuba
- 1959 - arrived in USA as refugee
- 1976 - serves in US Army and Reserves till 1981.
- 1981 - receives BA in Middle East Studies from the University of Arizona.
- 1983 - MA in Middle East Studies from the University of Arizona. Joined the United States Information Agency. Served as a Junior Officer in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
- 1986 - Press Attaché at the US Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua.
- 1988 - Public Affairs Officer at US Embassy in Kuwait.
- 1990 - Country Affairs Officer for Egypt, Yemen, and Sudan in the USIA/NEA Area Office, Washington DC.
- 1993 - Public Affairs Counselor in Damascus, Syria.
- 1996 - Public Affairs Counselor in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
- 1999 - Public Affairs Counselor in Amman, Jordan.
- 2002 - Public Affairs Counselor in Kabul, Afghanistan.
- 2004 - stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on a one year posting. (possible conflict between references on Kabul posting dates)
- 2005 July - appointed Director for Public Diplomacy for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
- 2006 October - Apologises for "US arrogance and stupidity in Iraq" comments.
- 2006 November - wins the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy.
- 2007 June - Charge D'affaires, U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan
- 2009 July - Nominated as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; confirmed by the US Senate on December 24, 2009.