By
Ayse Guner
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Diplomat-in-residence will spend two years at UA
John Richard Baca, former General Counsel of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, said he wants to combine his experience with the kinds of ideas and energy being generated on the UA campus.
"We get a chance to plug in a little bit of practical experience from our point of view," Baca said.
Now a diplomat-in-residence, Baca will be working with University of Arizona students interested in foreign services.
During the spring semester, Baca will teach a graduate seminar through Latin American Studies. He plans to teach at the UA for two years.
"I will spend time with people interested in becoming foreign service officers in Arizona," he said.
After 21 years of assignments and life experiences overseas, Tucson may be Baca's final destination, he said.
Baca first visited Tucson in April for only a day.
"The incredible morning light and the openness of the environment" made Baca pick Tucson over his other option, New York City.
"I am from Texas and Tucson is similar to Texas," he said.
Wearing a red shirt and a pair of blue jeans while he works, Baca said he enjoys the informal dress of the UA campus.
Before coming to Tucson, Baca served in La Paz, Bolivia for six years as counselor for Narcotics Affairs for the State Department.
Bolivia, a third-world country, is in the process of developing a higher standard of living.
"Bolivia had the world's third-largest cocaine supply, it no longer is, but tries to get rid of its narcotics," Baca said. "It is a country that aspires to be able to provide a better standard of living for a greater number of citizens."
Baca said he worked in the ratification program - getting rid of coca plants - which is what cocaine is made of. When he arrived in Bolivia in 1994, coca plants took up 98,800 acres of land. It had decreased by 90 percent when he left this year.
"What made it all possible is that Bolivians believed in us," he said.
One of his memories of Bolivians is that, despite the high amount of corruption among judiciary, "it was impressive how many honest people are there who take great risks to enforce the law."
Most of his thoughts are still about Bolivia, Baca said.
During the first few weeks at his new UA office, he still calls his former office in Bolivia to help his associates.
For the rest of his time, he develops his course plan and tries to get students interested in a foreign service career through campus organizations as well as connecting with regional universities.
"My role would be to identify people within the US foreign policy apparatus who might be an appropriate speaker depending on the subject they want to address, get that person to come and help get some coherence among the speaker and among the participants of the program," he said.
The Department of State selects eight universities to assign senior officers on a one-year basis for recruitment. The State Department selected the University of Arizona this year for the grant, and Baca will serve in this capacity, said Kirk Simmons, director of the division of international affairs.
"We requested Baca because of his extensive experience in Latin America," Simmons added.
Throughout his career Baca has been involved in human and civil rights initiatives, Simmons said.
"He brings his perspective of human rights into his work," he said.
Baca's past experience with civil rights includes serving on the U.S. Commission in Civil Rights, being responsible for conducting investigations into allegations of civil rights violations.
"We are very fortunate to have him and his extensive expertise on campus. His diplomatic contacts will be helpful throughout the region,"Simmons added.
Baca finished his bachelor's at the University of Hawaii in 1967 and received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1971.
