Paul Crespo

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Paul Crespo (born June 8, 1964) is a conservative political commentator, consultant and activist. A retired U.S. Marine Corps Captain, he has had a diverse career in the military, diplomacy, media and politics. He is known for his strong conservative views and commitment to constitutional principles.

Crespo was born in Los Angeles to Cuban exile parents. He studied at Georgetown University (B.A. in International Politics), earned a Master’s in War Studies from King’s College London and an M.Phil in International Relations from Cambridge University.

In the Marine Corps, Crespo served as an artillery and intelligence officer for 12 years on active duty and in the reserves, achieving the rank of captain upon his honorable retirement in 1998. His service took him across four continents, including a six-month period with a MEU-SOC in the Far East. At the Defense Intelligence Agency, he worked as a military attaché and liaison at U.S. embassies in Croatia, Qatar and Venezuela, earning the DIA Joint Service Achievement Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

After leaving the military, Crespo worked at the Pentagon (2007–2009) on a major media project for U.S. Southern Command in Miami. He wrote political and military columns for The Miami Herald and served on its editorial board, and contributed to other outlets such as Newsmax Magazine, American Legion Magazine and The Washington Times. He co-hosted a daily Spanish-language political talk show on Univision Radio and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, Sky News, Telemundo and Univision. In 2003 he was the on-air military analyst for WSVN 7 TV in Miami during the Iraq War and received a Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship.

Crespo has taught at the University of Miami, focusing on U.S. politics, the Constitution and American founding principles. He founded Civica Americana, a nonprofit that promotes American values, citizenship and free-market ideas in the Hispanic community and Latin America. He also helped lead the Bay of Pigs Museum project (2005–2007).

In business and policy circles, Crespo is the managing director of SPECTRE Global Risk, LLC, president of the Center for American Defense Studies and managing editor of American Defense News. He has held roles as a senior advisor at Raptor Strategies, a senior consultant at Alhambra Investment Partners, and has worked as an international security consultant and kidnap-for-ransom negotiator with Ackerman Group, as well as an investment advisor/broker with Lehman Brothers.

Politically active in the Republican Party, Crespo has been involved in campaigns in South Florida and beyond. He helped organize the South Florida Young Professionals for Bush in 2000, participated in the Bush/GOP Florida Recount Team, and served as the South Florida Media Coordinator for the 2004 Bush re-election campaign. He ran for public office twice—2010 for U.S. Congress in Florida’s 25th district and 2012 for the Florida House of Representatives in District 105—emphasizing his Marine service, outsider status and support for term limits and pension reform. His campaigns drew attention and controversy, including debates over absentee ballot procedures.

Crespo is a member of several professional and civic organizations, including the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Council on Emerging National Security Affairs, the National Press Club, the Oxford and Cambridge Club, the Army and Navy Club, and DACOR.