For a month and a half, the United States has not had an ambassador in Colombia. This is a situation that, while not extraordinary, is quite unusual. Especially for the Colombian case, one of Washington’s closest allies and whose embassy has rarely been “headless”, even during the most tense moments of the relationship.
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The interim situation occurs just when Colombia has just elected a new government that will take charge of the country in just over three weeks, and in the face of which there is uncertainty about the future of relations, given the leftist attitude of the elected president, Gustav Petro.
Joe Biden, in fact, has not even nominated a new ambassador and, once he does, he would not arrive in the country for at least six months while he goes through the cumbersome process of conformation in the US Senate.
EL TIEMPO interviewed multiple sources in Washington to try to get to the bottom of the matter. And although there are several theories circulating, there is one that has gained strength and probably explains the delay: the White House, it seems, put the appointment in the freezer of the person he had already selected, because they fear that his conservative profile – which some have called Trumpist – could be problematic for the flow of the bilateral relationship.
change in diplomacy
In February of this year, Biden nominated Philip Goldberg, at that time ambassador to Colombia, as head of the diplomatic delegation in South Korea, a position of the utmost importance, since he is the closest ally that the United States has in Asia.
Goldberg, a career diplomat, was appointed by Donald Trump in May 2019 and confirmed by the Senate in August of that same year to take office in Colombia.
Since ambassadors typically serve for a three-year term, when Biden nominated him to go to Korea, he was already in the final stretch of his term.
At the same time, and given the importance of Colombia at the regional level, the Biden administration initially favored Jean Elizabeth Manes as her replacement.
In fact, in the same week that Goldberg’s nomination for Korea became known, a rumor circulated that Manes was selected for the country.
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Something that this newspaper confirmed with sources in the White House, who although they warned that the decision was not yet final, they did confirm that Manes headed the list and that his appointment seemed imminent. In fact, she was interviewed by “officials of the highest level” and the only thing pending was the signing of her nomination decree.
Man’s profile
On paper, the Manes name made sense. She is also a career civil servant, speaks good Spanish and has a lot of experience in the region.
She was ambassador to El Salvador (2015 and 2019), returned to that country as chargé d’affaires in 2021 and in turn went through diplomatic representations of the United States in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. She currently serves as the State Department’s civilian representative to Southern Command.
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Her appointment seemed so certain that she was invited to several of the events organized by the Colombian embassy in Washington to celebrate 200 years of bilateral relations.
The Goldberg process moved smoothly. On May 5 he was confirmed by the Senate for his new position. A month later, on June 1, he formally said goodbye to Colombia and last Tuesday he presented his credentials to the Seoul government.
A similar evolution was expected in the case of Manes. According to the calculations of the time, she should be ready to take office even before the new government took office in Colombia and, given that she had already been previously confirmed by the Upper House for her position in El Salvador, a greater opposition.
The process, however, stalled. First, the thesis circulated that it was slowed down given the bottleneck that has formed in the Senate, where the Republicans have blocked the confirmation of at least 30 other ambassadors already appointed by Biden.
Something that makes little sense because, as the Goldberg case showed, when it comes to an important country and there is consensus, the process is usually expeditious.
Then came the version that someone very high level wanted the position and had crossed Manes. But several sources told this newspaper that this would not be the reason either..
Clash with the new government
The problem would be, they say, on the side of your profile.
Manes was born in Pompano Beach, Florida, he studied high school at Highlands Christian Academy, a conservative-oriented school, and his higher studies were carried out at Liberty University, run by evangelicals and one of the educational centers with the closest relationship with the Republican Party.
Although her education or ideological orientation does not disqualify her from holding office in a Democratic administration.
In fact, the US diplomatic service is nonpartisan and officials work under the guidance given by the leaders on duty, which is why Manes was appointed ambassador to El Salvador by Barack Obama and called to be Chargé d’Affaires in this same country in 2021 by Biden himself.
His performance in this last period in San Salvador ended up being controversial.
Since his arrival in May 2021, he has been involved in bitter public disputes with the government of Nayib Bukele, an issue that has exacerbated the already tense relationssince the United States openly questioned the anti-democratic decisions made by the Salvadoran president.
But the diplomat took it to a new level with permanent and highly critical exchanges through social networks.
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Last November, just six months later, he resigned after indicating that the Salvadoran government was not interested in having a relationship with the US. Three months later, however, Biden nominated William Duncan as the new ambassador to San Salvador. , and although relations are not the best, Bukele was invited to the recent Summit of the Americas and was not on the “vetoed” list that only included Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela.
This newspaper learned that several very high-level officials and former officials in the State Department warned the White House that the appointment of Manes, due to his temperament and conservative inclination, could derail the relationship with Colombia.
One of them would have been the former Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere and former Ambassador Tom Shannon, who experienced it firsthand because his company signed an advisory contract with Bukele since April of last year.
Although Shannon’s version has its objections due to the links with Bukele, the former official has enormous credibility within the US government after more than 35 years in the diplomatic service of this country.
Diplomatic uncertainty?
The fear became more acute when it became clear that the presidency in Colombia was between Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández, an independent candidate but with a profile similar to that of Bukele. And even more so after the victory of the candidate of the Historical Pact, whose leftist positions will probably generate some antagonism with the US.
The situation has become quite a hot potato. Manes has told acquaintances that she is frustrated by the indecision. The Biden administration, which has placed a lot of emphasis on gender diversity in public office, does not want to make a rude move against the official either. after having offered him the position, so at this point nobody knows how this impasse will be resolved.
To nuance the crisis –and show the relevance of Colombia–, Biden appointed Paco Palmieri as Chargé d’Affaires. Although Palmieri, who arrived in the country at the beginning of June, has been working on issues in the region at the State Department for years and everyone knows that his position is only temporary.
In any case, it is an unprecedented situation that Biden will have to define as soon as possible. Not only to silence the rumors but also to dispel the uncertainty created by the interim status that currently exists in the US embassy in Colombia.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
Correspondent of THE TIME
Washington
@sergom68
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