On Tuesday I sent him the New York Times cover story, which paints a very different Ken Salazar from the skilled and experienced diplomat my friend trusted. The note, written by correspondent Natalie Kitroeff, describes a link between Salazar and President López Obrador that goes beyond understanding and sympathy (both, if celebrated).
“This leaves me stunned,” Salazar’s disciple told me after reading the journalistic work.
It is not for less.
#InPhotos l This is the closeness between Ken Salazar and AMLO
Interview with US ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar, United States ambassador to Mexico, is pictured at his residence in Mexico City, on June 15, 2022.
Edgar Garrido/Reuters
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador meets with US climate envoy John Kerry, in Mexico City
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador meets with US climate envoy John Kerry and US ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar amid a dispute over Mexico’s efforts to change energy laws, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on March 31, 2022.
Presidency/Reuters
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, president of Mexico, defended Ken Salazar, ambassador of the United States in Mexico, after the publication of the newspaper The New York Times, where the relationship between the two politicians is criticized.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, president of Mexico, led the morning conference held at the National Palace. The president defended Ken Salazar, ambassador of the United States in Mexico, after the publication of the newspaper The New York Times, where the relationship between the two politicians is criticized.
Mario Jasso/Dark Room
MEXICO-AVIATION-AIRPORT-GENERAL FELIPE ANGELES-INAUGURATION
The United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, (L) speaks with the Principal Officer of the North American Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, at the end of the inauguration ceremony of the new International Airport General Felipe Ángeles in Zumpango, State of Mexico, Mexico, on March 21, 2022.
Pedro Pardo/AFP
Ken Salazar, ambassador of the United States in Mexico, held a private meeting with Sergio Gutiérrez, president of the board of directors of the Chamber of Deputies, and spontaneously went to greet legislators in the hall of sessions of the precinct l
Ken Salazar, ambassador of the United States in Mexico, held a private meeting with Sergio Gutiérrez, president of the board of directors of the Chamber of Deputies, and spontaneously went to greet legislators in the session hall of the legislative precinct of San Lázaro, the February 3, 2022.
Mario Jasso/Dark Room
Interview with US ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar, United States ambassador to Mexico, is pictured at his residence in Mexico City, on June 15, 2022.
Edgar Garrido/Reuters
Gulf Oil Spill Hearings Continue On Capitol Hill
Portrait from 2010. United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar testifies about the government’s response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill on May 18, 2010 in Washington , DC.
Chip Somodevilla/©Getty Images
According to the report, Salazar has bought the alleged fraud of 2006, the founding myth of López Obrador. And not only that. Perhaps more seriously, the US ambassador has taken seriously the president’s conspiracy theory that suggests groups like Mexicans Against Corruption are political actors who deserve to lose any US support.
The report chronicles a meeting between Salazar and María Amparo Casar about the nature and intentions of Mexicans Against Corruption. Salazar’s tone in this conversation is downright sinister, and all the more so for a White House ambassador to Mexico.
In a nutshell, Ken Salazar has become a pawn in the Mexican president’s most toxic agenda: polarization, disinformation, persecution.
