Rubio Blocks Trump's Honduras Envoy

[Judi Lynn]

The Florida senator is increasingly influential on U.S. policy in Latin America.
BY COLUM LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER | FEBRUARY 6, 2019, 5:36 PM

The Trump administration has abandoned its efforts to appoint the career diplomat Francisco “Paco” Palmieri as the next U.S. ambassador to Honduras, bowing to pressure from Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who seeks to promote a more hard-line approach to U.S. policy in Latin America, according to congressional sources.

The move opens the door for a political appointee to serve as ambassador to a nation that has emerged as a centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s foreign-policy agenda of curbing illegal migration from Central America. It also represents a blow to career diplomats, who find themselves increasingly sidelined by an administration that favors political loyalists or ideologues.

All the while, Trump has resubmitted for Senate confirmation some of his most controversial nominees for ambassador posts after their initial nomination expired, including political campaign donors with checkered backgrounds. The nominations prompted fierce pushback from Democrats and some Republicans over the course of 2018.

Last fall, in the run-up to the midterm elections, Trump sent U.S. forces to the southern border to prevent a migrant caravan originating in Honduras from making its way into the United States. But he has not dispatched an ambassador to the country since James D. Nealon, a career foreign service officer appointed by President Barack Obama, stepped down in June 2017.

More:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/06/rubio-blocks-trumps-honduras-envoy-latin-america-palmieri-central-america/

[Wellstone ruled]

1. So what does Little Marky want now.

Or does he think he is Relevant.