Mexico, February 16 (EFE): The Mexican Senate on Tuesday approved the Minister of Education, Esteban Moctezuma, as the country’s new ambassador to the United States.
The plenum, in a distant session, approved Moctezuma by 115 votes to just one.
According to the statement issued by the Council, the lawmakers asserted that the politician meets the specifications and requirements necessary to effectively carry out the position that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appointed for him.
In person, in the conference room, Chairman of the Board, Eduardo Ramirez, protested to Esteban Moctezuma as US ambassador and wished him success in this international endeavor.
Senator Hector Vasconcelos, former chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that the new ambassador’s path and ability to dialogue and generate agreements will be essential to cementing the relationship with the most important trading partner.
He said the former education minister should preserve political, trade and economic ties, advance the agenda for respecting the human rights of Mexicans living in that country, and meet high expectations derived from the North American Trade Agreement (T-MEC).
Moctezuma, born in Mexico City in 1954, will represent Mexico before the government of the new president of the United States, Joe Biden, whom it took Lopez Obrador a month to recognize, something that really upset the former Mexican ambassador to Washington, Martha Barcina.
Upset by Barcena and later his early retirement, President Lopez Obrador announced on December 16 the appointment of Moctezuma.
In addition to being Minister of Education, Moctezuma was Minister of the Interior and Social Development in the government of Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000), as well as a member of the Senate.
He also served as President of the Azteca Foundation, the organization responsible for the social, educational and environmental projects of the Grupo Salinas Group, and accompanied Lopez Obrador on his presidential campaign in 2018.
The new ambassador resigned from the Presidency of Education on Monday, leaving it in the hands of Delphina Gomez Alvarez, an elementary school teacher, as well as a former senator, former lawmaker, former Texcoco mayor and former Texcoco state candidate. Governor of the State of Mexico for the National Renewal Movement (Morena) by Lopez Obrador. EFE
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