MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump picks golfing friend with Uruguayan past for Montevideo Embassy

Rinaldi was born in Italy and lived in Uruguay for 15 years

US President-elect Donald Trump chose his golfing friend Louis Rinaldi as his incoming administration's future Ambassador to Montevideo. The Italy-born Rinaldi grew up in Uruguay since he was 4 before moving to the United States. Trump has announced that a series of ambassadorial positions would be filled businessmen such as Rinaldi rather than career diplomats.

“Lou is a great golfer and will be in a country with some excellent courses,” Trump said through a statement from his transition team. “A successful businessman, entrepreneur, and lifelong friend, Lou brings a lifetime of experience and a unique perspective to this important role,” he added. “Having grown up in Uruguay, he has a deep understanding of the country's culture and history.”

However, Rinaldi's appointment would need the Senate's nod. Trump's Republican Party will have a majority starting in January. Rinaldi has already acted as an informal liaison between Trump and Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou during the Republican's previous tenure at the White House. “His experience and background make him uniquely qualified to advance U.S. interests, and strengthen” bilateral relations, Trump also pointed out.

Uruguay's Ambassador to the United States, Andrés Durán, posted a message on LinkedIn congratulating Rinaldi. “He is a great person and a successful entrepreneur, with a remarkable life story,” he wrote. “He loves the United States and Uruguay, and I have no doubt that he will help strengthen our historic and dynamic bilateral relationship.”

Rinaldi has known Trump for nearly 30 years. He is a lathe mechanic who graduated from UTU and has lived in the United States since he was 19 years old, although he usually spends his summers in the Uruguayan beach resort of Atlántida.

”When I was introduced to Donald on the golf course I told him that I was going to shake his hand only because we had the same birthday (June 14), because I knew that he did not like to use his hands to shake hands during golf matches, for hygiene reasons,” Rinaldi told Montevideo's El Observador in 2019.