The UK’s ambassador to Mexico has been sacked after he was caught on digital camera aiming an assault rifle at an embassy worker on an official journey by means of drug cartel heartlands.
Jon Benjamin, 61, was seen smiling earlier than trying by means of the sight of the weapon and pointing it on the particular person sitting within the again seat of the diplomatic automobile throughout an official journey to 2 Mexican states ravaged by drug killings.
The unidentified worker from an area embassy is seen gesturing to the digital camera as laughter is heard within the background.
Mr Benjamin, 61, is now not listed because the ambassador on the UK authorities web site, in accordance with the Monetary Instances.
A video which purports to point out the incident was posted on X/Twitter, by an nameless person, who writes alongside the video: “In a context of every day killings in Mexico by drug sellers, he dares to joke.”
The account added: “Mexican employees members of the embassy are scared of talking up about these injustices as a result of inside whistleblowing instruments are damaged and favour British diplomats. They’re afraid to lose their livelihoods in the event that they communicate up.
“We’re determined for justice.”
Mr Benjamin was seen giving Liz Truss a tour of Mexico Metropolis in 2021 when she was overseas secretary.
The Overseas, Commonwealth and Growth Workplace (FCDO) has not formally introduced Mr Benjamin’s place. Nonetheless, the federal government’s official web site states that he “was UK ambassador to Mexico between 2021 and 2024”.
In accordance with the web site, Mr Benjamin “joined the diplomatic service in 1986, and beforehand represented the British authorities in Chile, Ghana, Turkey, Indonesia, and the USA, throughout his 35-year profession”.
The FCDO mentioned in a press release: “We’re conscious of this incident and have taken applicable motion.
“The place inside points do come up, the FCDO has sturdy HR processes to deal with them.”
Since mid-April, Rachel Brazier has been cost d’affaires on the British Embassy in Mexico Metropolis, a job the place a diplomat serves as an embassy’s chief of mission within the absence of the ambassador.
Mexicans will vote on Sunday in a historic election shadowed by cartel violence.
With two girls main the competition, Mexico will doubtless elect its first feminine president — a serious step in a rustic lengthy marked by its macho tradition.
The election marketing campaign was marred by drug cartel killings On 14 Could, gunmen apparently linked to a cartel shot and killed 11 folks in a single day in Chicomuselo. On 17 Could, 5 folks have been killed together with a mayoral candidate when gunmen opened hearth on a crowd within the city of La Concordia, Chiapas, about 45 miles east of Chicomuselo.
No less than 125 candidates have been killed all through the nation this yr, in accordance with the electoral violence tracker Knowledge Civica, whereas much more have been threatened, attacked and kidnapped.
Cartels have expanded management in a lot of the nation and raked in cash – not simply from medicine however from authorized industries and migrant smuggling. They’ve additionally fought with extra subtle instruments like bomb-dropping drones and improvised explosive gadgets.
