Ken Salazar nominated by Joe Biden to become the new US Ambassador to Mexico

686
Ken Salazar

U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated Ken Salazar, a former interior secretary and senator from Colorado, to serve as ambassador to Mexico, the White House said Tuesday.

Salazar, 66, a fifth-generation Coloradan whose family has long operated a ranch in the San Luis Valley, has been considered the likely nominee for the critical diplomatic post for months, and in late May Mexican diplomats confirmed his nomination was imminent.

Salazar’s nomination will now go to the U.S. Senate, which must confirm him before he can take over the U.S. embassy in Mexico City.

Salazar is a former Colorado state attorney general and a former Democratic senator who left the Senate to join President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009 and lead the Interior Department.

Colorado Democrats applauded the announcement, calling the pick “a terrific choice” with the potential to reset relations with the crucial U.S. neighbor and ally.

“Ken Salazar is an exceptional leader who has served Colorado and our country at the highest levels. As ambassador to Mexico he will revitalize the relationship with a neighbor, ally, and one of our biggest trading partners,” said U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.

In a tweet, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser noted that the Salazar family ranch was once part of Mexico.

Ken Salazar

“Ken Salazar never forgot where he came from – and that his family did not come to the US; the US came to his family, which has lived in the San Luis Valley for generations,” Weiser said. “There is not a better person to serve as our Ambassador to Mexico.”

Salazar, a native Spanish-speaker, co-chaired Biden’s Latino Leadership Committee and served as an honorary co-chair of the Biden campaign’s Colorado Latino Leadership Council.

Source: cnbc

Mexico Daily Post