Former Miami city manager Emilio Gonzalez has joined Mercury LLC‘s Florida team, the firm announced in a press release today, bringing with him an impressive list of experiences and contacts in Latin America.
Before working for the city, Gonzalez notably served as the director of Western Hemisphere Affairs for President George W. Bush‘s National Security Council. In that role, Mercury said, he was the administration’s expert on Central America and the Caribbean and notably helped secure the 2005 congressional approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
“Emilio has worked in the highest levels of government while also being successful during his time in the private sector,” Mercury Partner Ashley Walker said in a statement. “He will provide strategic guidance and bring a level of expertise that our clients will certainly appreciate and that will build our presence in Tallahassee as well as in Washington and internationally.”
The hiring comes as Mercury has been intensifying up its focus on the Americas, signing up Guyana’s People’s Progressive Party last year and recently adding the former chief of staff to Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Chris Coons, D-Del., to its newly renewed contract with the Haitian presidency. Mercury also lobbies for the governments of Turkey, Kazakhstan, Libya and Zimbabwe as well as the prefecture of Okinawa.
Despite Gonzalez’s international experience, Mercury said there were no “immediate” plans for him to lobby for foreign clients.
“Today being Dr. Gonzalez’s first day with Mercury, there are no immediate plans for him to work on foreign accounts,” Mercury spokesman Mike Hernandez told Foreign Lobby Report.
Gonzalez resigned as Miami city manager in January amid clashes with the city commission and accusations of impropriety.