Would Joe Biden Change U.S. Policy Toward Venezuela?
A Latin America Advisor Q&A featuring expert viewpoints on what the U.S. policy toward Venezuela would be like under a potential Biden administration.
Juan Gonzalez
United States | Senior Advisor and Special Assistant to the President of the United States; Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere, National Security Council,
Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
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Juan S. Gonzalez is a senior advisor and special assistant to the President of the United States and the senior director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council. He was previously a senior fellow at the Penn Biden Center for Global Diplomacy and Global Engagement. He is also a principal at JSG Strategy. Gonzalez previously served as deputy assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, where he led US diplomatic engagement in Central America and the Caribbean. From 2013 to 2015, he served as special advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, during which he accompanied the Vice President on seven visits to Latin America and coordinated the launch of the US-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue, the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative, and the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle of Central America. Gonzalez was also National Security Council Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2011 to 2013. Prior to the White House, he served in a variety of positions at the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, including as chief of staff to Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela. From 2000-2001, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala.
In 2017, Gonzalez was appointed by Senator Chuck Schumer to serve on the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission. He is also a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of the Washington Office on Latin America, and a member of the Advisory Board of Foreign Policy for America.
Gonzalez has an M.A. from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he is currently adjunct faculty in the Center for Latin American Studies.
Gonzalez was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
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