U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By KELIN DILLON

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar departed from his diplomatic post on Monday, Jan. 6, holding his final press conference where he anticipated “major changes” to relations between the United States and Mexico during the upcoming term of U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump.

“I feel very proud to have served as the United States ambassador to Mexico,” said Salazar. “It has been a time for me, which I will always hold dear, that I have given my best effort and all my heart to the United States-Mexico relationship.” 

“I wanted to transform that relationship for the positive, and we have succeeded, ” the diplomat continued. “We have much more work to do, but I look to the future with optimism that we will always be with one family, with a united North America, always looking forward to the dream that we have, and that is this integration of this era of North America.”

During his outgoing press conference, Salazar highlighted the “historic cooperation” between the neighboring countries on migration, drug trafficking, and security.

However, the U.S. diplomat’s time in Mexico was not without bumps, as Salazar’s commentary on former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) controversial constitutional judicial reform resulted in a brief suspension of relations between the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and the Mexican government.

Salazar ended his conference by pushing back against current Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s attempts to discredit an investigative report into Mexico’s internal fentanyl production published by the New York Times on December 29.

“I have worked with the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), Secretariat of the Navy (Semar), and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR); I know what is happening; there is fentanyl in Mexico and I also know that it is produced here,” added the outgoing diplomat.

Salazar, who served under the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, is expected to be replaced by President-elect Trump’s pick, Ron Johnson, upon the nominee’s successful confirmation in the U.S. Senate.