Word: ambassador
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That daring crime earned Astorga, 37, a permanent niche in the Sandinista pantheon of heroes. But it has hardly endeared her to Reagan Administration officials, who must decide in the coming weeks whether to accept the onetime terrorist as Nicaragua's new Ambassador to the U.S. At a time when relations between the two countries are close to breaking because of American support for anti-Sandinista contras, the nomination of Astorga seemed to take Washington by surprise and struck many as a direct challenge to the White House. Said a U.S. State Department representative: "Nicaragua took a real chance...
Normally the nomination of an ambassador follows a dignified routine designed to attract no attention. Once a name is whispered to American officials, the State Department drafts a biography, evaluates the candidate's credentials and then makes a formal recommendation to the President. If the nominee is acceptable, the U.S. sends an official agreement and the appointment is made public. With some exceptions, consent comes without a hitch. But Astorga's nomination was far from typical and had already attracted too much public attention to be reviewed behind closed doors. One Administration spokesman put it mildly...
...valuable CIA "asset." The intelligence community is thought to have raised objections to Astorga's appointment. But a flat refusal has its risks. Some State Department officers argue that the nomination ought to go through rather than give the Sandinistas a chance to retaliate by declaring newly appointed Ambassador to Nicaragua Harry Bergold persona non grata...
Astorga is not as odd a choice for ambassador as she might seem. An attorney, she rose rapidly in the Sandinista junta and worked for a time bringing former Somozista National Guardsmen to justice. Since 1983, she has held the post of Deputy Foreign Minister. Her office adjoins that of Foreign Minister Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, and she is thought to have an insider's view of diplomatic moves in Washington and Managua. But Astorga has one qualification that may outweigh all others. She has proved she is totally dedicated to the Sandinista regime and, as such...
...Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin is a cordial man, admired by Washington hostesses for his charming mimicry of bourgeois social graces. So special was his position that he had been accustomed to entering the State Department by driving into the basement garage and then riding a private elevator to the seventh floor, where the Secretary's office is located...