In February the outgoing Mexican ambassador to Ireland, Carlos García de Alba, was notified by his government that, after nearly five years on Irish soil, he would be reposted to the United Arab Emirates. In April these plans changed when the Mexican diplomat was sent a one-way ticket to California.
“I was so excited about moving to the Emirates. I thought it was a really interesting challenge. But I’m a civil servant and you have to obey, so when your bosses say you go to a place, you follow orders,” García de Alba says.
The Mexican government had decided to reassign 29 of the 50 consul generals dotted around the United States as well as the Mexican ambassador in Washington. The rise of Donald Trump had not gone unnoticed in Mexico City.
“Everyone has heard Mr Trump’s statements about Mexicans,” says the ambassador. “This sends a clear message that we need to be ready – not to interfere in American politics – but we need to be ready to react in case of actions that violate the human rights of Mexicans living in the United States.
“We need to make sure that there is no hate crime after his speeches. We’re not even in the real presidential campaign yet. I cannot imagine what the real campaign between the main candidates will be like.
“There is no panic, there are no nerves, but there is a consciousness of the situation. It’s a serious challenge that we are facing so we need to be prepared.
“The whole world is watching more than ever these US elections. The US is the only country in the world that has a global election. Even if only Americans can vote, the results of the election affect the whole world.”
Incredible relationship
The ambassador says Mexico must send a "strong, firm" message to American society that Mexicans are "not a problem or a burden".
“Mexicans are contributing and helping in the growth of an amazing country,” he says. “Mexico is the second economic partner to the US worldwide. You cannot ignore this incredible, positive relationship that both countries, both governments have built over the years.”
According to data released by the American census bureau last summer, there were almost 15 million Latinos living in California in July 2014, slightly more than the state’s 14.92 million non-Hispanic whites. California and LA county have the largest Latino populations of a state or county in the US, according to the latest figures.
There are some four million Mexicans living in LA county alone, says García de Alba. In his new position as consul general, the ambassador will be a representative for the equivalent of the population of Ireland as the US faces into what is likely to be one of the most heated presidential elections in American history.
“This is not just about the elections – it goes beyond the elections. Mexico has to take advantage of this difficult time to prepare a new message for the entire American society to show the positive side of our relationship,” he says.
Crucial time
García de Alba is conscious of the responsibility of representing his country at such a crucial time but feels privileged to have a job that challenges and surprises him.
“When you work hard, typically you get tired, but I’m delighted that I made the right decision to be a diplomat. It’s an amazing career and you have the chance to meet the most interesting and diverse people,” he says.
“From meeting famous, powerful, influential and rich people to visiting inmates on death row, you see the extremes of this world. You have the contrast of meeting the pope to meeting a man who is on death row: one a moment of happiness, the second a moment of tragedy, but both extremely interesting for different reasons.”
He never planned on becoming a diplomat; academia was his great love. However, by the time he reached adulthood, it was obvious that his abilities would be of best use in the world of mediation, debate and diplomacy.
When you grow up surrounded by 12 brothers and sisters, the ability to communicate and negotiate is vital. His childhood in western Mexico required a natural tendency towards diplomacy, not only with his siblings but also with his nearly 150 first cousins living nearby.
“In diplomacy you need to have social skills. You need to like people, you need to be curious, and I got that from my big family,” he says.
He had left his home in the city of Guadalajara and was working for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Italy when his boss suggested a career move into diplomacy.
“The first time I just skipped the topic,” he says with a chuckle. “The second time it was different and the third time I couldn’t say no to my boss.”
He travelled to Mexico to sit the foreign service exams and in 1988 began his first posting, in Canada. Since then he has represented his country as ambassador in Italy, Indonesia, El Salvador and France and as consul general in Dallas, Texas.
Before moving to Dublin in June 2011, García de Alba was “one of those hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who have visited Ireland because their plane stopped off in Shannon”. He knew about the Troubles and had read some Irish literature, but his knowledge of this island was limited. Over the past five years his relationship with Ireland has transformed.
“It’s a very easy job to be a diplomat in Ireland because Irish people break the ice immediately. Irish people are friendly, easygoing, humble, grounded people.”
He is particularly grateful for the welcome his 26-year-old son Fernando has received. Fernando, who has Down syndrome, lives with the ambassador’s former wife in Rome and visits his father every summer wherever he is posted in the world. Before Fernando arrived to spend his second summer in Ireland, his father asked some friends in the food industry if they could offer a summer job to his son.
“He loves food and cooking, and every summer he came he got a job as a waiter or a helper in the kitchen setting and cleaning tables and washing dishes. They started realising that he was a good worker – serious and professional – so they used to book Fernando in advance before he arrived in Ireland. The fact that he had the chance to work and be paid, it was a huge boost to his self-confidence.”
He explains that in other countries, including his home in Italy, Fernando has struggled to find employment. “You could see his face returning from work here in Ireland saying, ‘Dad, I did that’. It was so exciting, not just for him but for me, too. You cannot imagine how much I enjoyed seeing my son working in the most serious, devoted, professional way.”
Personal treasure
Unfortunately, not all aspects of the ambassador's posting have been positive. In December 2012, while he was visiting family in Mexico over Christmas, the Mexican residency in Dublin was burgled. García de Alba returned to Ireland to discover three decades' worth of his personal diaries were gone.
“They took away a safe box and it just happened that my diaries – 32 years of handwritten diaries – were inside.” He pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath before continuing. “I lost my personal treasure: my memories, my thoughts, my reflections and my dialogues. It makes me sad but such is life. You have to continue moving forward; you have no choice.”
During the summer of 2014 he got caught up in the heated debate surrounding the cancellation of the Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park. At the time, it was reported by media outlets that the Mexican ambassador had offered his help in ending the row and salvaging the cancelled concerts.
Before then, García de Alba had never heard Brooks’s name and says his offer to encourage the country singer to come to Ireland was a misunderstanding.
“The way I suddenly became a friend of Garth Brooks was quite bizarre. But you have to have a sense of humour about it. It’s not the way I wanted to get publicity, but it’s true that after that episode more people started talking about Mexico. So let’s say in the end there was a positive side to the story,” he says.
When he leaves Ireland later this month to face the Trump challenge head on, the ambassador is confident he will leave behind an island with a deeper understanding of Mexican trade, politics, tourism, art and science.
“The high point of my time here is that I believe our two countries are much more connected now. After five years, Mexico is better known in Ireland.”
