[2] Ambassador Ortiz was born on March 14, 1926, to Frank Valencia Ortiz y Barbero (1896–1992) and Margaret Mary Delgado y Garcia de Noriega (1900–1993) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where his family has lived since the 17th century.

[3] In 1945, he joined the United States Air Force and fought in World War II.

[1] During his time at Georgetown, his roommate was Ismael Moreno Pino, who later served as Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador of Mexico, representing his country in Germany, the Netherlands, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, the OAS in Washington, D.C., and the UN in New York and Geneva, Switzerland; the two later coincided again as heads of mission in Lima.

[1] From 1967 to 1970, he worked as a political counsellor in Lima, Peru, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Montevideo, Uruguay from 1970 to 1973.

[1] From 1973 to 1975 he worked in the State Department with regards to Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, and became Deputy Executive Secretary from 1975 to 1977.