Ambassador Vilma Martinez Welcome Reception Remarks

September 30, 2009 - U.S. Embassy Buenos Aires

Thank you all for coming, and welcome.  It is a pleasure for me to be here this evening, and an honor to greet you as the United States Ambassador to Argentina.  I have been here not quite two weeks now, and even in that short time, I have been able to get an exciting glimpse of Buenos Aires, one of the world’s truly great cities, and I’ve had a chance to meet some of you.  I am delighted this evening to bring greetings from my President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Clinton.

I’m told that I am the first woman Ambassador of the United States in Argentina, and here I am happy to reassure you all – while I have only a few weeks as an official diplomat, I have many years of experience being the first woman – or first Hispanic, or first Hispanic woman - in leadership positions, and it is a challenge I am always delighted to embrace.

I was born in San Antonio, Texas, and when I finished high school as a Mexican-American girl in the 1960s, I surprised many by going on to earn a law degree from Columbia University.  When I graduated law school and tried to get a job with a Texas law firm, I was advised that their corporate clients “would not want to be represented by a Mexican American or a woman attorney.”  Years later, I would sit on the governing boards of many of these same corporations, often the only Mexican American or woman on the board.

I went to work at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and later the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, MALDEF, where at age 29, I was the first woman to lead that organization as its President and Chief Counsel.   MALDEF made U.S. civil rights history by helping secure an extension of the Voting Rights Act to include Mexican Americans among the groups it protected; and by securing the right of undocumented students to a K-12 public school education.   These great achievements came through direct engagement with our legal system, one of my passions and the reason I believe so strongly in the promise of our Constitution to equal protection under the law.  During this time I was appointed to serve on the Board of Regents of The University of California, an institution I was privileged to serve for fourteen years, including two as its Chairman.  After my work with MALDEF,  I went on to work in corporate law before having the honor of saying ‘yes’ when President Obama asked me to serve as Ambassador to Argentina.

So by now the United States has a bit more experience with female leadership, a concept which I am happy to note is not new to Argentina either.  It is one of many things that our countries have in common that have made us both strong and vibrant.   So although I am far from my two sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughter in California, I feel at home in a place where shared American touchstones – immigration, entrepreneurship, agriculture – are so valued.

Argentina welcomes newcomers and is enriched by the cultural contributions of waves of immigrants.  Where else can you regularly enjoy Tango music and dance, Gaucho culture, Welsh teas, and indigenous heritage?  Whether Spanish, Italian, Scottish, Irish, African, Jewish, Chinese or Arab, immigrants have added depth and color to the rich tapestry of Argentine culture. 

A strong entrepreneurial spirit is growing in Argentina, and I find that very exciting.   Google cited Argentina's emerging entrepreneurial spirit as a main reason for its decision last year to base its Latin American operations in Buenos Aires, and it's just one of many examples.  I hope to see more U.S. companies discovering Argentina’s potential during my tenure here.  That entrepreneurship strengthens our important trade relationship, which already exceeds $13 billion in trade annually.

So I am delighted to be here in Argentina, and I am very proud of the great country I get to represent.  I am proud to represent the country that overcame its difficult history to elect Barack Obama president.  I am proud to represent a country that is re-engaging in nuclear disarmament, an issue on which Argentina has set a truly inspiring example.  I am proud to be here on behalf of a President who recognizes that our shared global destiny means shared decision-making and shared responsibility.  And I am proud to represent Secretary Clinton, whose focus on smart power diplomacy emphasizes dialogue, cultural exchange, and collaboration, and builds on how much we can learn from one another.   I look forward to working with each of you -- whether you’re a businessperson, activist, government official, or fellow diplomat -- and enriching the warm friendship between our two nations.   Again, thank you all for joining me here tonight.