Not appointing an ambassador to Mexico is insulting: Kerry

Secretary of State John Kerry urged the Senate to confirm Roberta Jacobson as ambassador, adding that the eight-month gap in the diplomatic mission represents an insult to the neighboring country.

During a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry recriminated the Senate for not supporting the nomination of Jacobson, Deputy Secretary of State for Latin America since 2012.

She was nominated in June 2015 as Ambassador to Mexico by President Barack Obama.

Although the Committee approved her nomination last November, Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio is blocking a vote in the plenary of the Upper House of Congress.

The fact that Jacobson was the chief negotiator in the restoration of relations with Cuba has made her an easy target for Rubio, radically opposed to the rapprochement policy initiated by Obama.

New Mexico Democratic Senator Tom Udall expressed that the absence of an ambassador in Mexico has a great impact in the state that he represents, which shares a border and a high volume of trade with Mexico.

Six months have passed ambassador to Mexico, where the American representation operates only at the level of international trade representative in that country while Mexico currently has a representative in Washington.