The UK’s ambassador to Mexico was sacked earlier in the year after he was caught on video pointing an assault rifle at a local embassy employee, it has been reported.
According to the Financial Times, Jon Benjamin was on an official trip to two Mexican states with a high presence of drug cartels when he picked up a gun in the vehicle he was travelling in and pointed it at an employee.
A video which purports to show the incident was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by an anonymous user, who writes alongside the video: “In a context of daily killings in Mexico by drug dealers, he dares to joke.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not officially announced Mr Benjamin’s position. However, the Government’s official website states that he “was UK ambassador to Mexico between 2021 and 2024”.
In pictures: @TrussLiz meets with Mexico's economy minister @tatclouthier, women’s rights campaigners and 🇬🇧 ambassador @JonBenjamin19 in Mexico City, as part her first visit to the country as Foreign Secretary. pic.twitter.com/vcCBPr9gp7
— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) September 24, 2021
According to the website, Mr Benjamin “joined the Diplomatic Service in 1986, and previously represented the British government in Chile, Ghana, Turkey, Indonesia, and the United States, during his 35-year career”.
The FCDO said in a statement: “We are aware of this incident and have taken appropriate action.
“Where internal issues do arise, the FCDO has robust HR processes to address them.”
Since mid-April Rachel Brazier has been chargee d’affaires at the British Embassy in Mexico City, a role where a diplomat serves as an embassy’s chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador.
