As an embassy official in Venezuela Pastorino had to decide who should be granted temporary visas to visit America

As an embassy official in Venezuela Pastorino had to decide who should be granted temporary visas to visit America: the Bulgarian sculptor who seemed like a decent fellow — even though he was a card-carrying Communist? The Italian shoemaker who had already been turned down by another embassy official? In the end Pastorino erred on the side of generosity and granted both visas. To his knowledge, neither overstayed their visas, committed any crimes nor set into motion any Communist plots during their time in America. Working “the visa window” as a vice consul is the bottom-rung grunt work of the foreign service, said Pastorino. He said most young diplomats — many of them with doctorates and expertise on international economics and trade policy — begin their careers sitting at an embassy pushing papers and “asking the same 10 questions, and getting the same 10 answers — often the same 10 lies.”