Profile: J. Patrick Maher

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announces that Intelligence Director John Negroponte has appointed J. Patrick Maher as a new acting mission manager to collect “timely and accurate intelligence” on Cuba and Venezuela. Maher, who will continue to serve his current position as National Intelligence Officer for the Western Hemisphere, is a Latin American specialist and has been with the CIA since 1974. The appointment was made shortly after news surfaced on July 31 that Fidel Castro was in the hospital and that his brother Raul Castro had temporarily taken over. According to a statement released by the ODNI, this task is “critical” because “policy-makers have increasingly focused on the challenges” that the two countries “pose to American foreign policy.” Iran and North Korea are the only other countries for which there are currently mission managers. [Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 8/18/2006; Washington File, 8/21/2006]