Jon Benjamin is no longer listed as an ambassador on the UK government’s website, the Financial Times reported.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elfinanciero/3RIBUAZQ3VBJJPF5JET6DBPEH4.jpg)
The British ambassador to Mexico, Jon Benjamin, was fired from his post after pointing an assault rifle at a local embassy employee, as seen in a video posted on social media.
This was stated by the British media Financial Times, which detailed that the former diplomat was on an official trip to Durango and Sinaloa, when he picked up a weapon in the vehicle in which he was traveling and pointed it at a colleague.
According to the publication, this episode would have occurred in April of this year, which merited the immediate dismissal of the ambassador. However, it was not until this week that a video of the incident was released on the social network X.
The recording, according to the British media, was published through the anonymous account @subdiplomatic, apparently controlled by embassy employees upset by the mistreatment of Mexican staff.
In the video, which lasts just five seconds, Benjamin can be seen inside a car that appears to be stopped, holding a semi-automatic weapon and pointing it at one of his companions, whose face appears blurred.
“In a context of daily murders in Mexico at the hands of drug traffickers, he dares to joke,” the anonymous account notes.
Who is Jon Benjamin, the ambassador who targeted Mexican personnel?
Jonathan Benjamin joined his country’s diplomatic service in 1986 and has since held posts in Turkey, Ghana, Indonesia and the United States.
In 2021, he was appointed UK ambassador to Mexico, replacing Corin Robertson. Previously, he also headed an academy for foreign service employees.
“Jon Benjamin is no longer listed as an ambassador on the UK government website,” the Financial Times noted.
The Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was aware of this incident and assured that “appropriate measures” have been taken.
“When internal problems arise, the FCDO has robust human resources processes in place to address them,” it noted.
However, Benjamin, who remains an employee of the Commonwealth and Development Office after his dismissal as ambassador, has not responded to the allegations and requests for comment, the Financial Times reported.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elfinanciero/QMCNWIDPY5CRBHSLVEWZ4JQ6CI.jpg)
Who is currently the UK ambassador to Mexico?
According to the British Embassy in Mexico website, following the departure of Jon Benjamin, the diplomatic mission was placed under the command of the chargé d’affaires in CDMX, Rachel Brazier.
Brazier is a Spanish speaker and a specialist in Latin America. Throughout her career, she has held positions in the British embassies in Ecuador, Uruguay and the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Before arriving in Mexico, she was Chief of Staff for the Americas and Head of Network Operations, based in the United Kingdom.
Source: elfinanciero
