The appointment of Jesusa Rodríguez, current substitute senator for the Morena party, as the new ambassador of Mexico in Panama was rejected on February 1 by the senators who make up the National Action Party (PAN) caucus.
Laura María de Jesús Rodríguez Ramírez, better known as Jesusa Rodríguez, is a native of Mexico City.
The political leader was born on November 3, 1955 and “has served as a theater director, actress, activist, performance artist and civil servant,” Infobae detailed.
According to Milenio, Julen Rementeria, coordinator of the group of PAN senators, spoke out for seeking the right profiles to occupy Mexican diplomatic positions.
“It seems to me that the Mexican Foreign Service should seek prestige (…) but, from that to going to the other side, to proposing a person who, with the merits he or she has, should be discussed, but ¿ambassador of a country, representative of a nation? It seems to me that he does not have the profile for it,” Rementeria said at a press conference.
Rodríguez was appointed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to replace historian Pedro Salmerón, who resigned on January 30 as a candidate for Mexico’s ambassador to Panama.
A group of feminist groups, organizations and people who know Salmerón have expressed their disagreement and outrage at his appointment through social networks, using the hashtag “#UnAcosadorNo DebeSerEmbajador”, and a statement signed by more than 400 people.
Salmerón is accused by former students and fellow supporters of alleged harassment. In this sense, the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), where Salmerón worked as a teacher, began a formal investigation process against the complaints of students and former students.
An ITAM investigation committee found sufficient evidence of sexual harassment in one case and a pattern of conduct that led to repeated situations of gender-based violence and sexual harassment in the university environment.
However, López Obrador maintained that candidacy because there is no criminal complaint against Salmerón and even stated last week that if they presented that complaint to the judicial authorities, he would withdraw the historian’s candidacy.
López Obrador said this February 1 that he received a letter from Salmerón (dated January 30, 2022) in which he was informed of his decline.
This appointment of Rodríguez comes after, according to López Obrador, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Erika Mouynes, expressed her position regarding the appointment of Salmerón.
“As if it were the Holy Inquisition, the Panamanian minister was dissatisfied because they disagreed at ITAM and asked us not to send the approval request,” said the president.
