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US President-elect Donald Trump appointed this Sunday Christopher Landau, former Ambassador to Mexico during his first term as “Number Two” at the State Department.

Trump announced his candidacy through his social network Truth Social, recalling Landau’s work on reduce illegal migration to ‘lowest levels in history’ during his tenure as ambassador between 2019 and 2021.

The appointment of Landau as Deputy Secretary of State should be ratified by the Senate, where Republicans will have a majority as of January 3rd. If confirmed, he will implement Trump’s foreign policy together with the secretary of state, a position Senator Marco Rubio has been nominated for.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump noted that Landau would work with Rubio “to promote the security and prosperity of the nation through Foreign policy “America First”.

The election of Landau and Rubio to lead the State Department shows that this branch of government will have a decisive role in policy towards Latin America.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, played key role in policy towards Latin America during the first Trump administration (2017-2021), a period in which the United States recognized the opposition Juan Guaidó as the “legitimate president of Venezuela” and tightened its policies towards Nicaragua and Cuba.

Due to his experience in Mexico, if confirmed by the Senate, Landau may oversee immigration policy to reduce the arrival of illegal migrants, as well as introduce tariffs and renegotiate the T-MEC free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.

At the moment, Landau works in the Washington office of the law firm Ellis George. after a three-decade career as a lawyer. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he clerked for conservative Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, and Clarence Thomas.

Born in Madrid in 1963. Landau is the son of Georg Landau, who was serving as a diplomat in Spain at the time. His father later served as US ambassador to Paraguay, Chile and Venezuela.

On his X account, he said he felt “honored and grateful” for the nomination and for the opportunity to work with Marco Rubio. “to implement Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda.”

“I wish my parents were alive to hear the news, as my father was a career Foreign Service officer and my mother was an experienced diplomatic wife. This nomination is a tribute to them, the best teachers of what it means to be a diplomat and an American. AND“I look forward to the confirmation process in the U.S. Senate,” he said.

“The US cannot depend on Mexico”

In June 2021, Landau criticized the United States for the lack of a strategy to combat the widespread use of drugs on its territory and that This is limited to asking Mexico to catch the drug traffickers and extradite them.

In an article published in a newspaper Arizona Republic noted that “The United States cannot depend on Mexico or any other foreign country” to solve its drug problem.

“If the United States, with its relatively robust criminal justice system, proves unable to eradicate or even significantly curb this trafficking within its own borders, “How can Mexico realistically be expected to do this within its borders?” – he noted.

Landau recommended “that the proceeds of illegal drugs emanating from this country are reaching the pockets of the cartels in Mexico.” He also said he must stop the flow of firearms and ammunition across the border to Mexican cartels.

AMLO adheres to the principle of non-interference in the activities of cartels.

On April 20, 2021, Landau noted that then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador adhered to the principle of non-interference in the activities of drug cartels.

At a meeting organized by the Council of American Ambassadors, he warned that these organizations They control from 35% to 40% of the country’s territory.

Landau also pointed out that the Mexicans They are very nationalistic and do not allow Americans to enter the country. lead the fight against drug trafficking.

(according to information from EFE and Aristegui News)