The United States' point man for Latin American peace processes

The New York Times has a terrific profile of Bernard Aronson, A Democratic Diplomat, at Ease With both Guerrillas and the G.O.P.

As a Democrat who served as assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs under the first President George Bush, Mr. Aronson has made both peace and war.

He was involved in carrying out Mr. Bush’s invasion of Panama in 1989, and he was a strong supporter of the contras in Nicaragua in their fight against that country’s leftist Sandinista government. While never holding a position in the Reagan administration, he did help write an important speech for Ronald Reagan praising the contras as freedom fighters in a worldwide battle against Soviet expansion.

But Mr. Aronson also helped bring about the demobilization of the contras after the Sandinistas lost elections in 1990. And he played an important role in negotiating the 1992 peace accord that ended the civil war in El Salvador.

I really only thought about Mr. Aronson when it came to helping to end the Salvadoran civil war and now the Colombian civil war. Given the time that he served under George H.W. Bush, it shouldn't have been surprising to see him connected to the Contras and to the Panama invasion.

It's great to see Mr. Aronson's getting good press. We don't focus enough on the important role that US diplomats play in executing foreign policy. 

Given her popularity, Mari Carmen Aponte could probably run for and win the presidency of El Salvador. Maybe it's the age of Twitter, but it rather remarkable all the accolades she is receiving as she prepares to leave El Salvador. I thought that US Ambassadors to Guatemala (McFarland, Chacon, and Robinson) have done a very good job. Tom Shannon and Roberta Jackson generally get good reviews from serious people. 

Getting back to Colombia, it'll be a remarkable achievement once the peace is signed. Unlike the FMLN during the 1980s, the US has not had good relations with the FARC. Good might not be the right word but there were members of Congress and officials in other positions who knew that the FMLN might actually have been the good guys in their war against the Salvadoran government. The FMLN-FDR had a very effective diplomatic corps that built trust and political support. I don't think those relationships or conditions exist with the FARC. That makes the end of that country's civil war all the more remarkable.