SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Ron Johnson, new U.S. ambassador to Mexico, arrived in Mexico City on Thursday to officially take over the post previously held by Ken Salazar.
According to the U.S. Department of State, Johnson is a retired U.S. Army officer who at one time served as the CIA’s Science and Technology Liaison to the U.S. Special Operations Command, working on a wide range of regional issues including refugees, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, human rights and tropical virus disease control.
Before being appointed ambassador to Mexico, he served in the same capacity in El Salvador.
The binational Chamber of Commerce was among the first to welcome Johnson to Mexico City.
“This is a new era strengthening the regional competitive role that both nations build every day through collaboration,” read a statement sent out by the chamber. “Amchamber extends a welcome to United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ron Johnson.”
On Monday he is expected to meet with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum to formally introduce himself as the White House’s representative in that country.
“It won’t be a long reunion, it will be brief,” Sheinbaum told reporters on Thursday. “We’ll discuss coordination, collaboration and the relationship that we believe should exist among commercial partners, neighbors and friends.”
U.S. Embassy staff wrote that for now, Johnson will begin his tenure by visiting with staff and touring the recently-constructed embassy in Mexico City.
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