The Foreign Service Journal, September 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2013 31 We requested his extradition and Contreras was held in a local jail for a year. It was a rather elegant place, so he didn’t exactly suffer. But by then Pinochet had become disenchanted with us. He believed that he had done lots of things to improve relations with Washington, including turning over Townley, but his gestures were never reciprocated. In the end, Contreras was stripped of his job as chief of the secret police but was not prosecuted. The department, to show its disapproval, recalled me for consultation. But after I returned, the atmosphere in Santiago was still so toxic that we could no longer attempt to achieve any human rights improvements. So it was a long five years. Then I was appointed ambassador to Venezuela in 1982. FSJ: Was that a less tempestuous relationship? GWL: In some ways, it was a real relief. While I was in Chile, everything I said and did was scrutinized by their gov- ernment and their opposition; and in the United States, by the Republicans and by the Democrats. I had to walk a tightrope the whole time. In contrast, Venezuela was corrupt but peace- ful. None of us foresaw then that someone like Hugo Chavez would eventually emerge, but it became evident to me that the poor people up in the hillside slums, who had no voice, would sooner or later rise up against the establishment. While I was in Venezuela, David Rockefeller asked me to become president of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas, an organization that looks out for all the major U.S. firms operating in Latin America. He had already floated the idea several years earlier, when I served in Chile, but I had turned him down. When we spoke in Caracas in early 1985, however, I had just turned 65 and would normally have to retire from the Service. Fortunately, I didn’t face that pressure. A few months earlier, Venezuelan President Lusinchi met with President Ronald Reagan during a state visit to Washington. And in the presence of Secretary of State George Shultz and Tony Motley, the assistant secretary for Inter-American affairs, Lusinchi said, “Mr. President, you and I both leave office in 1989. I would like it very much if you would permit Amb. Landau to stay until the end of my term.” And Reagan said, “Sure, why not?” FSJ: He had no idea about the mandatory retirement age? GWL: Of course not. Appointees serve at the president’s pleasure, so I could have stayed as long as he wanted. Plus, I was fine with staying in Caracas until I was 69. But when David Rockefeller asked me once again, in 1985, to come to AS/COA, I asked Secretary Shultz for his advice. He said it was up to me, but added, “If David Rockefeller made me an offer like that, I’d take it.” So I followed his advice and retired from the Foreign Service on June 30, 1985, and on the very next day began my first term as president and execu- tive officer of AS/COA. Working at AS/COA was really the Foreign Service on steroids. All of a sudden, you meet every Latin American president, foreign minister, finance minister and central bank president. It was terrific. At the same time, Coca-Cola invited me to chair its Latin American advisory board, which met three times a year. I also joined other corporate boards. It was very interesting and also lucrative. At AS/COA, I worked closely with State and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative on free trade agreements, beginning with the U.S.-Canada accord. I still know more about lumber in Ontario than anyone should! We lobbied very hard for the North American Free Trade Agreement, starting during George H.W. Bush’s presidency. David Rockefeller and I played a big part in convincing Pres. Bush that a free trade zone from Alaska to Tierra de Fuego was the way to go. Bush duly made the announcement at the Washington conference of the Council of the Americas in 1990. I had joined the Foreign Service under Pres. Eisenhower; and, in my view, Pres. Bush (41) was the most knowledge- able about Latin America of any chief executive I served. He was instrumental in concluding the NAFTA agreement under which Mexico joined the United States and Canada as a free trade partner. President Bill Clinton, who, at first, put NAFTA on the back burner, eventually embraced the idea and skill- fully obtained congressional ratification. FSJ: What changes do you think are needed to the Foreign Service personnel system to ensure that members of the Service “David Rockefeller and I played a big part in convincing Pres. Bush that a free trade zone fromAlaska to Tierra de Fuego was the way to go.”