“Narcotics Trafficking and the Increasingly Important Role Venezuela Plays as a Transit Country” will be the topic of a Brigham Young University Foreign Service Lecture on Monday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. in 238 Herald R. Clark Building.
The lecture will be presented by BYU alumnus Willard Tenney Smith as part of the David M. Kennedy Center’s Hometown Diplomat Program.
Smith is the first secretary and director of the Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement Section of the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, where he works to interrupt the transit of narcotics and promote rule of law through support of local law enforcement and judicial sectors.
He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1992 after having worked as an intelligence officer with the Department of Defense and in a variety of positions in Mexico, Peru, Jordan, Guyana and Washington, D.C. He has been given many awards for his service.
Prior to his government assignments, Smith served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cordoba, Argentina, and received a bachelor’s in Near Eastern studies from BYU. His master’s degree is from the University of Texas at Austin.
This lecture will be archived online. For more information on David M. Kennedy Center events, see the calendar online at kennedy.byu.edu.
Writer: Marissa Ballantyne
