Eduardo Medina-Mora is heading to our nation’s capital…
The 55-year-old Mexican politician has been appointed as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States by the country’s newly inaugurated president Enrique Peña Nieto, a move approved by the Mexican Congress.
Medina-Mora, who will replace the current ambassador in Washington, Arturo Sarukhán, has been praised by Mexican lawmakers as having all the characteristics needed to become the country’s representative to its neighbor to the north, according to the Mexican daily El Universal.
Some Washington insiders have also expressed their support for the Medina-Mora appointment, stating that it his previous work with the U.S. on the Mérida Initiative, the U.S. aid program that hopes to restore Mexican government authority in areas challenged by drug traffickers, is a sign that he knows how to work with the U.S. and will have the ear of Peña Nieto.
“It’s likely that the U.S.-Mexico relationship will be run by Medina-Mora out of Washington and straight back to Los Pinos,” said a senior U.S. official, referring to the Mexican president’s residence, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Medina-Mora began his career as a lawyer before being appointed Mexico’s Secretary of Public Safety under former President Vicente Fox and then taking over the PGR former Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s administration. Since 2009, Medina-Mora has served as Mexico’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he dealt with the controversy over derogatory comments made about Mexicans on the BBC show Top Gear.
Upon his arrival in the beltway, Medina-Mora will be faced with two issues that have plagued relations between the neighboring nations for years: Mexico’s drug war and immigration.
“Medina-Mora comes with much more experience than his predecessor and has done a lot in Mexico…His appointment shows that they took the post seriously… they put someone in the position who has directly dealt with the main issue to the U.S., the drug issue,” said Peter Hakim, the president emeritus and senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue.