The US ambassador to Mexico is writing a love letter to her assigned country before she leaves.
Roberta Jacobson, who was appointed to her post by former president Barack Obama, said earlier this year she would step down on May 5. Until then, she will be reminiscing about her “passage through this beautiful country” on Twitter, she announced this week. She’s tagging her memories with the hashtag #MiAmorXMexico, or #MyLove4Mexico
Her departure is part of an exodus of officials from the US Department of State since Donald Trump took office. Earlier this year, the US ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, resigned because he no longer felt he could serve the president.
Under Trump, US-Mexico relations have escalated to their tensest level in years. The president’s tough talk on immigrants and his promise of a border wall between the two countries have irked politicians and regular citizens alike.
But Jacobson, who describes herself as a friend to Mexico on her Twitter profile, has endeared herself to Mexicans through her frequent compliments of the country—and her condemnation of the gruesome violence that plagues it.
Her first #MiAmorXMexico postcard is from Mexico City. “I will miss your spring, the beautiful colors of your sunsets…, and the soft lilac of your streets covered with jacaranda trees,” she wrote.
The second comes from Tijuana: “I carry with me its street art, its delicious food, and the warmth of its people.”
Her parting tweets have been celebrated by many Mexicans. “How good it feels that an American says that of my country,” one tweeted.
One respondent, however, took issue with what he called “the imaginary Mexico that we tout so much.” “I hope you haven’t learned anything from our corruption, our way of discriminating, of our very efficient impunity.”