Trump, A Line Too Much For US Ambassador

THE RESIGNATION of John Feeley, the US Ambassador to Panama was  motivated by disagreement with the policies of the Trump administration and his exit from the foreign service  adds one more to the scores of career diplomats who  have handed in their cards since the real estate tycoon took office,

It came 24 hours before  Trump’s   “shitholes” outburst to describe Haiti and African countries which has sent shock waves around the world.

Honorable choice
In his resignation letter Feeley said “As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to faithfully serve the president and his administration in an apolitical way, even when I do not agree with certain policies. “My instructions made it clear that if I thought I could not do that, I would have the honor to resign. That moment has arrived, “said Feeley, according to an excerpt from the letter published by The Guardian newspaper.

According to the announcement made on Thursday, Feeley informed Panama President, Juan Carlos Varela, and Chancellor Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado that he had decided to retire from the foreign service of his country and that he will remain in office until March 9.

Feeley said that the Embassy’s advisory minister, Roxanne Cabral, will be in charge of the embassy until his replacement is named. According to The Guardian report, the assistant secretary of state, Steve Goldstein, said: “Everyone has a line that they will not cross,  “If the ambassador feels that he no longer can serve … then he has made the right decision for himself and we respect it.”

Ambassador Feeley’s  diplomatic career was largely linked to issues of the Western Hemisphere, particularly Latin America.

His assignments abroad included Mexico City, Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, and Bogotá, in Colombia.

Before joining the State Department in 1990 and as part of active military service, Feeley served as a helicopter pilot in the US Marine Corps.

He graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

The State Department, in charge of US diplomacy and directed by Rex Tillerson, has faced serious criticism after the resignations of several career diplomats during the Trump administration.

However, the administration denies that there is an internal crisis.