Alejandro Orfila was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 career diplomat.

Early career

Born to Catalan immigrants who had become moderately successful Mendoza Province

Mendoza Province

The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders to the north with San Juan, the south with La Pampa and Neuquén, the east with San Luis, and to the west with the republic of Chile; the international limit is...

 vintners, Alejandro Orfila received a Law Degree at the University of Buenos Aires

University of Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...

 in 1945. The following year, following political science studies at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, he was assigned to the Argentine Embassy in Moscow; in 1948, however, he was expelled from the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 on the grounds of espionage. Transferred to the United States, he was appointed Argentine Consul General to San Francisco and later New York, where he remained until his father's death in 1952 compelled him to return to the family business in Mendoza.

Offered the prestigious post of Director of Information at the recently established Organization of American States

Organization of American States

The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...

 (OAS), Orfila left for Washington, D.C. in 1953. There, he forged close contacts in the U.S. capital and, after becoming Argentine Ambassador to the U.S. in 1958 and to Japan in 1960, he formed an influential K Street

K Street (Washington, D.C.)

K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. known as a center for numerous think tanks, lobbyists, and advocacy groups.-Location:...

 lobbying

Lobbying

Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

 firm in 1962, specializing in the interests of U.S. firms investing in or trading with Latin America. Close to President Juan Perón

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

 since his days in the Soviet Union, Orfila was appointed Ambassador to the United States by the populist Argentine leader, back in power in 1973 after an 18-year-long exile.

Tenure at the OAS

Upon the retirement of Ecuatorian

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

 statesman Galo Plaza

Galo Plaza

Galo Plaza Lasso was an Ecuadorian politician and statesman who served as the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the U.S, President of Ecuador from 1948 to 1952, and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1968 to 1975...

 from the post of Secretary General

Secretary General of the Organization of American States

According to the Charter of the Organization of American States:-Secretaries General of the OAS:-Assistant Secretaries General of the OAS:*William Manger *William Sanders...

 of the OAS on 17 May 1975, Orfila was elected to replace him. In this capacity, he moved quickly to repair the OAS's ralationship with its most important member, the United States. Inheriting an OAS closely identified with the Non-Aligned Movement

Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...

, he dismissed a number of Plaza's appointees looked upon unfavorably by U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger

Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

. Preferring his own brand of "gala diplomacy" to confrontation, Orfila was fond of enlisting his sumptous beltway home for diplomatic dinners in the interest of assuaging differences.

Orfila's influence in U.S. foreign policy circles, however, remained marginal until the advent of the Administration of U.S. President Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 in early 1977. Orfila rallied support in the OAS for Carter's campaign pledge to renegotiate U.S. presence in the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

, a contentious issue across Latin America. The Panama Canal Treaty was signed at OAS headquarters in September of that year. Taking the OAS into a more active role in Latin America's economic development than had been the case before, Orfila facilitated the Inter-American Development Bank

Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean...

 as a means to provide these governments an alternative to the high-interest credit markets in the world's financial capitals, a policy that backfired somewhat after many of these nations entered a debt repayments crisis

Latin American debt crisis

The Latin American debt crisis was a financial crisis that occurred in the early 1980s , often known as the "lost decade", when Latin American countries reached a point where their foreign debt exceeded their earning power and they were not able to repay it.-Origins:In the 1960s and 1970s many...

 in 1981.

Supported in many circles for his long-standing anti-communist policies, Orfila nevertheless actively opposed the tide of human rights abuses in Latin America. Working with President Carter and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Patricia Derian, he marshalled the then-dormant Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...

 into investigations inside repressive regimes like his own country's, the Argentine military junta

National Reorganization Process

The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...

; after looking into allegations of widespread political murders and kidnappings

Dirty War

The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...

 in September 1979, the commission's 1980 report removed any doubts as to the state of freedoms in the country at the time, and helped lead to an improvement in the climate of civil liberties.

These moves, however, undermined Orfila's standing in Washington after Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 became U.S. President in early 1981, particularly among President Reagan's foreign policy advisers such as Jeane Kirkpatrick

Jeane Kirkpatrick

Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick was an American ambassador and an ardent anticommunist. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign and later in his Cabinet, the longtime Democrat-turned-Republican was nominated as the U.S...

, who, as Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 campaign adviser in 1980, chided the OAS investigations into atrocities by admonishing them to be more supportive of "moderately repressive regimes." With violence in the region more concentrated in Central America after 1980, Orfila lost a valuable ally in his efforts to mediate the area's civil wars when Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

nian strongman Omar Torrijos

Omar Torrijos

Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981...

' plane exploded in August 1981.

Orfila lent the OAS' support to the establishment of the Contadora Group

Contadora Group

The Contadora Group was an initiative launched in the early 1980s by the foreign ministers of Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela to deal with the military conflicts in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, which were threatening to destabilize the entire Central American region.The original...

 in hopes of alleviating the worsening wars in Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

, Guatemala and El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

. This support, as well as that of the United Nations and a number of other international bodies, failed to compensate for President Reagan's opposition to the initiative, however. A 1982 resolution he supported, asserting Argentina's claims on the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

, resulted in a policy embarrassment for the OAS after Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

 ended in disaster. The severe economic downturn in almost the entire western hemisphere was addressed by Orfila with efforts to renegotiate Latin American debt repayments; this met with opposition in the Reagan Administration on this, as well, and on 26 October 1983, the OAS voted to condemn the U.S. invasion of Grenada, making Orfila's policy rift with Reagan final.

Towards the end of the year, accusations of influence peddling arose against Orfila. Increasingly unable to exert credibility despite the lack of evidence for the allegations, on 21 June 1984, Secretary General Orfila resigned his post, expressing frustration over the OAS' inability to influence U.S. Latin American policy during the 1980s. He was succeeded by Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs João Clemente Baena Soares

João Clemente Baena Soares

João Clemente Baena Soares is a Brazilian diplomat.Soares was born in Belém. He working at the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations for 31 years before being elected to serve as Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1984 to 1994.Between 1997 and 2006, he was a member of...

.

Private life

During his diplomatic years, he was married to his first wife, an American, Jean D'Aprile, daughter of a Rochester, New York, judge. They had four children: Alejandro, Martin, Linda and Michael. Orfila is grandfather to Martin's three children and Linda's two children.

In 1985, Orfila was sued by a former subordinate, Carr Donald, over allegedly having been dismissed without cause. The lawsuit failed, however, and in 1986, an appellate court upheld the ruling against Mr. Donald.

Following his resignation in 1984, Orfila retired to his estate in Argentina, focusing on building up his Argentine ranch and vineyards. Since 1994, he has owned Orfila Vineyards and Winery, an award-winning vineyard in the San Pasqual Valley, in Escondido, California

Escondido, California

Escondido is a city occupying a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills, just north of the city of San Diego, California. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating...

. The winery claims more than 1,100 awards for its wines. According to Orfila Vineyards literature, he lives in exclusive Rancho Santa Fe, California

Rancho Santa Fe, California

Rancho Santa Fe known locally as ″The Ranch″, is one of the most exclusive and affluent communities in Southern California. It is also a census-designated place in San Diego County, California and an unincorporated bedroom community of San Diego County...

, with his second wife, German-born Helga.