Mari Carmen Aponte Explained

Mari Aponte
Office:United States Ambassador to Panama
Term Start:November 21, 2022
President:Joe Biden
Predecessor:Stewart Tuttle
Office1:Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
President1:Barack Obama
Term Start1:May 5, 2016
Term End1:January 20, 2017
Predecessor1:Roberta S. Jacobson
Successor1:Francisco Palmieri
Office2:United States Ambassador to El Salvador
President2:Barack Obama
Term Start2:August 21, 2012
Term End2:February 7, 2016
Successor2:Jean Elizabeth Manes
President3:Barack Obama
Term Start3:September 27, 2010
Term End3:January 2, 2011
Office4:Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration
Term Start4:2001
Term End4:2004
Predecessor4:Xavier Romeu
Birth Place:Santurce, Puerto Rico
Party:Democratic
Education:Rosemont College (BA)
Villanova University (MA)
Temple University Beasley School of Law (JD)

Mari Carmen Aponte (born 1946) is an American attorney and diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Panama in the Biden administration since November 2022. She previously served as acting assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs on May 5, 2016.[1] She also served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador from August 2010 until December 2011 and again from June 14, 2012, until December 2015.[2] [3] Before that she was serving as a member of the board of directors of Oriental Group, a major financial and banking services enterprise in Puerto Rico. President Obama also nominated her as the United States' permanent representative to the Organization of American States,[4] but the Senate had not acted upon that nomination upon adjournment in December 2014.

Early life and education

Aponte was born in Puerto Rico in 1946. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Rosemont College, a Master of Arts in theater from Villanova University, and a Juris Doctor from the Temple University Beasley School of Law, one of a few female law students enrolled under an affirmative action program, after serving a stint as a public school teacher.[5]

Career

In 1979, she was appointed a White House Fellow by President Jimmy Carter, serving as a special assistant to former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu.

Clinton administration

In 1998, President Bill Clinton nominated Aponte to serve as the United States' ambassador to the Dominican Republic. However, Aponte asked that her nomination be withdrawn from consideration by the Senate after her involvement with Roberto Tamayo was made public.[6] After Aponte's nomination was withdrawn, Clinton designated Aponte a special assistant in the Office of Presidential Personnel.[7]

Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration

In 2001, Puerto Rico Governor Sila Calderón appointed Aponte to be executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, a post she held until 2004.

Obama administration

Aponte was serving as a member of the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission when President Obama nominated her in December 2009 to serve as the United States Ambassador to El Salvador.[2] After the Senate failed to act upon her nomination over a period of eight months, Obama gave Aponte a recess appointment to the post in August 2010 and she stayed until 2011.[8]

In 2011, Aponte helped organize and hosted President Obama's state visit to El Salvador as part of a Latin American tour that also included Brazil and Chile.

In August 2011, she personally hosted a visit from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was meeting with Salvadoran counterparts.[9]

In December 2011, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Aponte's nomination, in an effort to break Senate Republicans' filibuster of her nomination. However, the cloture vote failed by a vote of 49–37.[10]

Aponte returned to the United States at the end of December 2011, when her recess appointment expired.

On June 14, 2012, the Senate confirmed Aponte to be the ambassador by voice vote.[11] She presented her credentials on August 21, 2012, and served until February 7, 2016.[12]

Aponte was also nominated by President Obama as a permanent representative to the OAS, but the Senate adjourned in December 2014 before taking up her nomination.

Biden administration

On October 8, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Aponte to be the next U.S ambassador to Panama.[13] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee did not act on it for the rest of the year, and it was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022.[14]

President Biden resent Aponte's nomination the next day. Hearings on her nomination were held before the Foreign Relations Committee on May 18, 2022. Her nomination was favorably reported on June 9, 2022. She was confirmed by the Senate on September 29, 2022.[15] She presented her credentials to President Nito Cortizo on November 21, 2022.[16]

Private sector

Aponte has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Oriental Group, a major financial and banking services enterprise in Puerto Rico, from 1998 to 2001 and from 2005 until appointed ambassador to El Salvador.

In addition to decades of law practice, she was a vice-chair of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and a consultant to the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network (HITN).

She served as a director at the National Council of La Raza, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the University of the District of Columbia and Rosemont College. She presided over the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Aponte dated insurance salesman Roberto Tamayo. Tamayo was accused by a Cuban intelligence defector of spying for the Cuban government. Tamayo was alternately accused of being an FBI informant by a U.S. intelligence source. Aponte's relationship with Tamayo, which ended in 1994, was brought up by Republican Senator Jim DeMint as a reason to stop her confirmation as ambassador to El Salvador in 2011, however, she was confirmed as no "nefarious connection was found".[17]

Aponte speaks Spanish and French.

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Aponte, Mari Carmen.
  2. Web site: President Obama nominates Mari Carmen Aponte as new Ambassador to El Salvador . Embassy of the United States San Salvador, El Salvador . December 9, 2009 . December 16, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131216232346/http://sansalvador.usembassy.gov/news/2009/12/09.html . December 16, 2013 .
  3. News: US ambassador leaves El Salvador after Senate fails to ratify her . Washington Post . December 30, 2011.
  4. Web site: Obama names Aponte to top US post at Organization of American States - Caribbean Business . January 12, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150112042534/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news/obama-names-aponte-to-top-us-post-at-organization-of-american-states-99225.html . January 12, 2015 .
  5. http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v12-2/lawyers.html
  6. News: Obama Pick for Salvador Post Withdrew Prior Nomination Over Cuba Concerns . Fox News . December 17, 2009.
  7. Web site: Aponte, Mari Carmen . AllGov . December 16, 2013.
  8. Web site: President Obama Announces Recess Appointments to Key Administration Posts . August 19, 2010 . . . December 16, 2013.
  9. Web site: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor Visits El Salvador . Embassy of the United States San Salvador, El Salvador . August 15, 2011 . December 16, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131216232132/http://sansalvador.usembassy.gov/news/2011/08/15.html . December 16, 2013 .
  10. Web site: On the Cloture Motion (Cloture on the Nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador) . US Senate . March 22, 2022.
  11. Web site: PN267 — Mari Carmen Aponte — Department of State 112th Congress (2011-2012) . US Congress . June 14, 2012. March 22, 2022.
  12. Web site: Mari Del Carmen Aponte (1946–). Department of State.
  13. Web site: President Biden Announces Key Nominations . The White House . October 8, 2021 . March 22, 2022.
  14. Web site: PN1251 — Mari Carmen Aponte — Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022) . US Congress . January 3, 2022. March 22, 2022.
  15. Web site: PN1565 — Mari Carmen Aponte — Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022) . US Congress . January 4, 2022. March 22, 2022.
  16. USAmbassadorPAN . Mari Carmen . Aponte . 1594805124882374678 . Fue un verdadero honor presentarle mis cartas credenciales al presidente @NitoCortizo . es . 2022-11-24.
  17. News: Collins. Gail. December 9, 2011. The Ghosts of Boyfriends Past. The New York Times. December 10, 2011.