Rueda says farewell to Jamaica

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

During her five-and-a-half-year tenure as Mexican ambassador to Jamaica, Leonora Rueda has seen three governors general and an equal number of prime ministers in office.

Rueda, who arrived in the island in January 2006, is heading for New Zealand, where she will serve as her country's new ambassador to that Commonwealth nation.

It is with some level of regret that the 51-year-old departs the island, as she has grown very attached to the people of Jamaica, who she deems the country's "most important resource". She said she was fortunate to have served in Jamaica for such a long period.

"The normal term that you are in a country is between three and four years but, in my case, I have to thank the economic crisis," Rueda said.

"When you are in an economic crisis period, the government tries to achieve prosperity in their economy, so because of this my government changed ambassadors in the countries where they were more at risk, like Iran, Afghanistan, and all those countries," she added.

Rueda, who was chargé d'affaires for the Mexican Embassy in Vietnam before being assigned to Jamaica, gives her proudest achievement as that of making the Jamaican people more familiar with Mexico.

"The work that we have done here at the embassy to make the people in the streets of Jamaica know more about Mexico and to make them feel closer to the people of Mexico and know that there is a country called Mexico is what I have liked most," Rueda said.

Air traffic agreement

Her achievement does not stop there, as she played an integral role in establishing the air traffic agreement between both countries.

"During my tenure, we worked very close and very hard to have an air traffic agreement, which we were able to sign two years ago," Rueda said.

"We have the agreement now and what I really feel we need to work on is having a direct flight between Mexico and Jamaica," she added.

She also sees other areas where both countries can forge a greater partnership; such as the trade sector.

"There are things we would like to do between the two countries and in my case that would be to have more trade," Rueda expressed. "I think that in Mexico we would appreciate very much the sauce, because Jamaica has the hot pepper, very hot and the jerk sauce. We can also improve the cultural relations," she added.

Meanwhile, commenting on the level of democracy in Jamaica, Rueda said her experiences here have shown it be vibrant.

"The people are getting more conscious of their reality and they are demanding solutions from their politicians, which I think is good and I am a witness of that progress in Jamaica," Rueda said.

"So I think that democracy in Jamaica is improving on a daily basis."

She added: "I have found that Jamaicans are very open to express their ideas; I have heard some radio programmes and read in the newspaper where the people speak openly."