For the past few months, Javier Díaz de León has been making the rounds in Atlanta, getting to know the city as Mexico’s consul general for a three-state region.
But in a way, Mr. Díaz has less catching up to do than many of his predecessors.
For the past three years, the career diplomat was posted in Raleigh, N.C., which helped give him an understanding of both the needs of the Mexican community in the South and the forces that helped drive the astronomical growth of the population here over the past two decades.
Since starting his diplomatic career in 1991, Mr. Díaz has over time become a specialist in U.S.-Mexico affairs. He has represented his country at consulates in San Diego and New York and within the Mexican Embassy in Washington. He later returned to Mexico City to become the executive director of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before his stint in Raleigh.
Educated in international affairs in Mexico City and with a master’s in conflict analysis from the University of Kent in England, Mr. Díaz is a strong proponent of U.S.-Mexico engagement, particularly on the trade front. He recognizes the shared border as an asset and believes that the U.S. and Mexico should do more to show how their prosperity is linked. The global economy, he says, is not something any country can shy away from, no matter how protectionist it may become.
He’s also aiming to raise Mexico’s profile locally on the business and investment front, even as he tends to the needs of a community that numbers in the hundreds of thousands.
Mr. Díaz will explore these themes in an interview with Global Atlanta at the upcoming Consular Conversations luncheon Sept. 21. Register for that event here.
Global Atlanta will travel to Mexico Sept. 12-17 to gain better insight on cooperation with Georgia’s second largest export destination.
Watch as the consul general describes his commission in the Southeast before Mexico’s Senate (Spanish):
Follow Mr. Diaz on Twitter at @CGjdl.
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