MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Biden picks candidate for Montevideo Embassy

Fulton's nomination now needs to be approved by the Senate

US President Joseph Biden has chosen his nominee for the position of Ambassador to Montevideo, which now needs Congressional approval.

Heide Fulton is the current Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). She is also a career member of the Foreign Service with extensive embassy and US Army experience, although Uruguay would be her first ambassadorial appointment.

According to the State Department's website, Fulton currently handles programs against “illicit drugs and organized crime” in the Americas in addition to law enforcement tasks in the Western Hemisphere and the INL's global aviation program.

A former head of the State Department's Bureau of Mexican Affairs, and chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Honduras, Fulton is fluent in Spanish. She has also worked at US representations in Afghanistan, Ecuador, Cambodia and the Philippines.

She has also served in the US Army missions both in Europe and in Iraq, in addition to her experience at the State Department's Press Office. She retired from the US Army Reserve in 2020 after 28 years of service.

The New York-born Fulton, who holds a bachelor's degree from Boston College and a master's degree in International Relations from Troy State University, has also worked for Senator Bob Menendez, who chairs the Upper House's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Kenneth George was the United States' last ambassador. He left his post in January of 2021.