America’s 46th President Joseph Joe Biden is planning to promote the US Ambassador To Zimbabwe Ambassador Brian A Nichols by nominating him to be the Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, AP News reports.
If congress approves his nomination, Ambassador Nichols will become a top diplomat in Latin America and the Caribbean and the first African American to become the top diplomat for the Latin American region since Terence Todman in the 1970s according the publication.
A researcher specializing in Latin America for Chatham House Christopher Sabatini said if Nichols is appointed it will show the values that the Biden administration promotes. Said Sabatini:
This is a man who spoke truth to power. In the middle of the Trump administration, he posted a personal letter showing his solidarity and empathy with the Black Lives Matter protesters. Now he will lead our diplomacy towards Latin America, a region marked by marginalization, racism and division.
I think it’s a nice moment in American diplomacy, putting (Nichols) there right now. We are now beginning to see the values that the Biden administration promotes and will uphold in the region. I think this is a brave and inspiring nomination
Ambassador Nichols according to the publication has had a long carrer in Latin America:
- He was an ambassador to Peru
- A consular officer at the beginning of his career.
- He was also the number two official at the Bogota embassy, where the largest US diplomatic presence is deployed in the region.
- He has also worked in Mexico and El Salvador and in the office dedicated to the fight against drugs in the region.
Ambassador Nichols has over the years denounced corruption and human rights abuses, an act that angered the Zanu PF adminstration to the point of threatening to expell him and call him a thug.
Source: AP News