Colombia's Ambassador To The U.S. Quits In Protest Of Cabinet Nomination
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Bogota, Colombia (AHN) - Angered by the nomination of disgraced former President, Ernesto Samper, for a position as ambassador to France, Colombia's ambassador to the United States resigned from the post. The appointment has also been opposed by Washington. Andres Pastrana, himself a former president, said President Alvaro Uribe's support for Samper, whose U.S. visa was revoked because of alleged ties to drug traffickers, "left him without a choice but to resign." Samper's presidency in the 1990s was overshadowed by allegations that his campaign was financed in part by cocaine smugglers. Pastrana says, "The president insisted that I stay, but ... I could not defend this appointment." "This changes Colombia's policy and it changes it radically." Pastrana's resignation, which caught Uribe and most Colombians by surprise, was deplored by the president in a written statement. The resignation caused an impromptu reshuffling in Uribe's cabinet. According to officials, Foreign Minister Carolina Barco will become ambassador to the United States, former culture minister Maria Consuelo Araujo, a key aide in Uribe's recent re-election campaign, would be the new foreign minister and the current ambassador to the United Nations, Maria Angela Holguin, would take over diplomatic duties in Paris. The government's announcement Monday that it was nominating Samper as the ambas |
