Ken Salazar.

Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic (JAL)  US President Joe Biden has nominated Ken Salazar, a former U.S. Senator from Colorado, to serve as the next ambassador to Mexico. The nomination has to be approved by the full Senate after hearings.

Salazar, 66 and currently in private practice as a lawyer, served as  Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama and in the U.S. Senate for a term. He has no prior diplomatic experience, but played an important role in negotiating the cross-border management of the Colorado River with Mexico.

Although a Latino-American and fluent in Spanish, his heritage traces directly to Spain, and not to Mexico.  His nomination was applauded in  most quarters, although his past associations with oil companies has drawn criticism from environmental organizations and his support for fracking contradicts Mexican policy against it. 

A Co-Chair of the President’s election campaign, will be the Biden’s point man in Mexico to move forward on a day-to-day basis the initiatives with Mexico launched by Vice President Harris in her meeting with AMLO last week , especially policies  to deal with an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.