Daily Archives: August 8, 2016

#Olympics: Secretary Kerry in Rio With Presidential Delegation+, Plays Some Beach Volleyball

August 8, 2016 By in John F. Kerry, Obama, Secretary of State, Social Media, State Department, Top Ranks, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

Posted: 3:34 am ET
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On August 2, President Obama announced the designation of the Presidential Delegation to Attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The delegation will attend athletic events, meet with U.S. athletes, and attend the Opening Ceremony.

  • John Kerry, Secretary of State of the United States, will lead the delegation.

Members of the Presidential Delegation

  • Liliana Ayalde, U.S. Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil, Department of State
  • Mari Carmen Aponte, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State
  • Liz Allen, Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Communications Director
  • Ellie Schafer, Special Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Visitors Office
  • Mr. Mark Spitz, nine-time Olympic gold medalist, one-time Olympic silver medalist, one-time Olympic bronze medalist, men’s swimming

Secretary Kerry Poses For A Photo with the U.S. Men's Gymnastics Team U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the Summer Olympics pose for for a photo with the U.S. men's Olympic gymnastics team on August 6, 2016, at Olympic Park in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry Poses For A Photo with the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the Summer Olympics pose for for a photo with the U.S. men’s Olympic gymnastics team on August 6, 2016, at Olympic Park in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry and Staff Tour the Men's Olympic Cycling Area Before The Start of a Race U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and State Department Senior Aide Jason Meininger walk along the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as the Secretary and his fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation tour the men's Olympic cycling area before the start of a race on August 6, 2016. [State Department Photo/Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry and Staff Tour the Men’s Olympic Cycling Area Before The Start of a Race
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and State Department Senior Aide Jason Meininger with Chief of Staff walk, along the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as the Secretary and his fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation tour the men’s Olympic cycling area before the start of a race on August 6, 2016. [State Department Photo/Public Domain]

Italian Prime Minister Renzi Speaks With Secretary Kerry As They Watch An Olympic Men's Beach Volleyball Game Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and State Department Senior Adviser David Thorne - the former U.S. Ambassador to Italy - after they watched an Olympic men's beach volleyball game on the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as the Secretary and his fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation visit the Summer Olympics on August 6, 2016. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Italian Prime Minister Renzi Speaks With Secretary Kerry As They Watch An Olympic Men’s Beach Volleyball Game
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and State Department Senior Adviser David Thorne – the former U.S. Ambassador to Italy – after they watched an Olympic men’s beach volleyball game on the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as the Secretary and his fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation visit the Summer Olympics on August 6, 2016. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry and U.S. Ambassador Ayalde Watch An Olympic Beach Volleyball Game U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Liliana Ayalde watch an Olympic men's beach volleyball game on the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, while they and their fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation visit the Summer Olympics on August 6, 2016. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry and U.S. Ambassador Ayalde Watch An Olympic Beach Volleyball Game
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Liliana Ayalde watch an Olympic men’s beach volleyball game on the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, while they and their fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation visit the Summer Olympics on August 6, 2016. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry Plays with U.S. Women's Beach Volleyball Players U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plays with U.S. Olympic women's beach volleyball players on the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on August 6, 2016, as he and his fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation attend the Summer Olympics. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Secretary Kerry Plays with U.S. Women’s Beach Volleyball Players
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plays with U.S. Olympic women’s beach volleyball players on the Copacobana beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on August 6, 2016, as he and his fellow members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation attend the Summer Olympics. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]


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I've traveled around the world to 88 countries as Secretary of State, representing the values that make us the proud, diverse, exceptional nation that we are. U.S. athletes are some of our finest Ambassadors. And I can’t think of anything that unifies people as much as the common spirit of sportsmanship. #TeamUSA put countless hours into training for these games, and they are an inspiration to everyone working towards a goal that at times feels impossible. They are proof when you work hard, set your mind to something, and never, ever give up, great things can happen. As Muhammad Ali said, "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power that they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." Thanks for following along. – JK

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FSO Dante Paradiso: The Killing of Unarmed Black Men Is Hurting America’s Image Abroad

August 8, 2016 By in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service, FSOs, Realities of the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 2:42 am ET
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Via The Daily Beast by Dante Paradiso, a career Foreign Service Officer, a lawyer, and the great-grandson of a New York City police officer (with standard disclaimer).  Mr. Paradiso is also the author of the book, The Embassy: A Story of War and Diplomacy that will go on sale on October 3, 2016.

… I get that in matters of criminal justice there are larger social justice issues at play, structural inequities of the past still ingrained in the our layered local, state and federal systems that leave us with difficult race, gender and class divides. But life is the cardinal value and change must start there.

For these very reasons, the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights, mandated by Congress, highlight “Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life” at the very top. Having contributed to many of these reports, in many different countries, I have spent many days in previous assignments listening to the protestations of host country officials. They have told me that their government cannot be held responsible for every bad cop, that the cases are misrepresented, that we are talking about a fraction of the police force and that the actions of a few do not fairly represent the whole picture. As a trained lawyer, I know well that any case can be distinguished on its facts and that nearly every death outside a judicial process can be explained away. Yet as a diplomat, I have told those officials that legal parsing won’t cut it.

So when I see that in a Cleveland park a child with a plastic gun is shot moments after police pull up, or that in the streets of Chicago a 17-year-old is hit with nearly one bullet for every year he lived, or that in Baton Rouge a man is tackled, pinned down by two cops and shot in the chest, after all the shock and the sadness, I inevitably think about how any of these extrajudicial killings would have been described in our Human Rights Report, and the kind of conversations I would have had, if they had occurred in some country other than my own.

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D/MR Higginbottom Swears In Mary Beth Leonard, New Ambassador to the African Union

August 8, 2016 By in AF |Africa, Ambassadors, Foreign Service, FSOs, Photo of the Day, Social Media, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

Posted: 2:24 am ET
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