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The UK’s ambassador to Mexico was sacked from his post earlier this year after he pointed an assault rifle at a local embassy employee in an incident captured in a video posted on social media.
Jon Benjamin was on an official trip to Durango and Sinaloa, two northern Mexican states with a strong presence of drug cartels, when he picked up a gun in the vehicle he was travelling in and pointed it at a colleague, according to the video and people familiar with the matter.
Foreign officials visiting dangerous parts of Mexico typically travel with armed staff for protection. Benjamin, a career diplomat, was sacked as ambassador soon after the episode in April, the people said.
A video of the incident was published on social media site X this week from an anonymous account, apparently controlled by employees of the embassy angry over mistreatment of local staff. In the five-second clip, the car appears to be stopped and the colleague’s face is blurred out.
“In a context of daily killings in Mexico by drug dealers, he dares to joke,” the anonymous account said.
Benjamin is no longer listed as the ambassador on the UK government website, with the former deputy now the chargé d’affaires. Benjamin, who remained an employee of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office after his removal as ambassador, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on LinkedIn and X.
Benjamin joined the diplomatic service in 1986 and has had posts in Turkey, Ghana, Indonesia and the US. He also previously directed an academy for foreign service employees.
The FCDO said: “We are aware of this incident and have taken appropriate action. Where internal issues do arise the FCDO has robust HR processes to address them.”
Mexico is experiencing a wave of violence that has been growing for more than a decade. Record numbers of people have been murdered and gone missing during the current government of President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador.
Relations between the UK and Mexico have long been amicable but somewhat distant, with large chunks of trade in the auto and food and drink sectors.
Mexico, which is Latin America’s second-largest economy, is a member of the CPTPP trade deal, encompassing 11 countries including Australia and Japan, that the UK signed up to last year.
The UK began negotiating a new free trade agreement with Mexico in 2022 though limited progress has been made with Mexico preparing for its largest ever elections.
On Sunday, voters in the country are expected to elect Claudia Sheinbaum as their first female president, and vote in thousands of local seats, after campaigns marked by widespread violence and murders of candidates.
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