MEXICO CITY — The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, plans to leave her post this spring, a move that could further strain a rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries at a time of major negotiations on trade, a controversial border wall project and an upcoming presidential election in Mexico.
An experienced diplomat and Latin America expert, Jacobson is the latest in a string of high-level officials in the State Department to part ways with the Trump administration. In a letter to embassy staff Thursday, Jacobson did not focus on her personal reasons for resigning, effective in May. She described it as a “difficult decision” but said it was “the right time to move on to new challenges and adventures.”
Jacobson took up her post in 2016. Her departure was first reported by the New York Times.
As her replacement, the Trump administration is looking to name Edward Whitacre Jr., a former chief executive of both GM and AT&T, who has also worked in the past with Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, according to U.S. and Mexican officials familiar with the decision. Whitacre’s name was first reported by the Mexican newspaper Reforma. White House officials have not responded to an inquiry.
Whitacre, a Texas native, has been a former president of the Boy Scouts and a board member of Exxon Mobil, which probably put him in contact with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also a Boy Scouts past president and a former Exxon chief executive.
A call to Whitacre was not immediately returned.
Whitacre will enter a fraught relationship between the United States and Mexico. Last month, President Trump and President Enrique Peña Nieto held a troubled phone call in which the two disagreed about Trump’s proposed border wall. Peña Nieto called off a planned trip to Washington after the conversation, the second time during Trump's tenure that a visit has been canceled. Months of talks to reform NAFTA have also not yet yielded a resolution. If the new U.S. ambassador pushes harder on Trump’s favorite themes harder — including stopping illegal immigration from Central America — the relationship could deteriorate further, according to Mexican analysts.
“This will become a more complicated relationship with the new ambassador,” Jorge Chabat, a professor at CIDE, a research institution in Mexico City, predicted.
[Rex Tillerson visits Mexico as bilateral ties hit their lowest point in years]
Jacobson, who grew up in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and entered the State Department in 1986, during the Reagan administration, has brought a wealth of Latin America expertise to the position of ambassador. She is widely liked by Mexican officials, who often describe her as trying to preserve the productive relationship that existed during the Obama administration.
“We Mexicans will miss Roberta,” said Rafael Fernandez de Castro, director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California at San Diego. “She did a wonderful job keeping communication channels open with her Mexican counterparts as President Trump both weakened the State Department and bashed Mexico. She was a blessing when the U.S.-Mexico relationship most needed it.”
Jacobson began her career at the State Department as a White House management fellow. She has spent most of her career in the Western Hemisphere section, including as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and several other high-level positions.
State Department Undersecretary Steve Goldstein confirmed that Jacobson has announced her intention to retire and said Jacobson told Secretary Tillerson about the decision when he was in Mexico last month.
“We are grateful to her, and we are sorry to see her go,” Goldstein said.
Many observers expected Trump would replace Jacobson at some point and bring in someone who more closely shares his views.
[Mexico looks to Europe and beyond for free-trade allies as NAFTA falters]
Other Latin America experts, such as the U.S. ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, have also announced their intention to leave their posts.
In her letter to the staff, Jacobson said her decision to leave was “all the more difficult because of my profound belief in the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship and knowledge that it is at a crucial moment.”
Jacobson mostly highlighted the work of her subordinates.
“We have ensured criminals who prey on the most vulnerable faced justice, that women and children trafficked like merchandise were freed, that migrants knew their rights, that dangerous drugs were removed from the marketplace and reach of our children, that democracy was strengthened, and the judicial playing field leveled where we could,” she wrote. “We have worked for American and Mexican prosperity, promoted exports from the United States and literally hundreds of U.S. companies, and help generate good jobs that bring with them dignity.”
Anne Gearan in Washington and Gabriela Martinez in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Read more:
Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Read Again https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-ambassador-to-mexico-is-stepping-down-to-be-replaced-by-former-gm-and-atandt-chief/2018/03/01/2f28524d-91bb-402c-a9cd-ff17c424cd52_story.htmlBagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "US ambassador to Mexico is stepping down, to be replaced by a former CEO of GM and AT&T"
Post a Comment