The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has proposed Cuban-American businessman Benjamín León as the new ambassador of Washington to Spain.
On his social network Truth Social, Trump has highlighted about León that he is a "successful entrepreneur, rider, and philanthropist," who arrived in the United States "from communist Cuba at the age of 16, with only five dollars in his pocket, and went on to turn his company, Leon Medical Centers, into an incredible business."
The Leon Medical Centers website highlights that Benjamín León Jr, 80 years old, was born in 1944 in the Cuban city of Holguín and settled with his family in Miami-Dade county to provide care to Cuban immigrants, who "had a great need for medical services" and found it difficult to access them "due to the language barrier."
According to Trump, the businessman "has invested in the training of our future doctors and nurses" by supporting the Nursing School that bears his name at Miami-Dade College in Florida, and the Benjamin León Center for Geriatric Research and Education at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at the International University of that state. "He has helped support many valuable causes, such as The League Against Cancer and important medical research at Johns Hopkins and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute," he added.
León still needs to receive approval from the Senate, with no set timeline for such proceedings. The Senate will first prioritize resolving the confirmation of Trump's top political appointees, who will take office again as president on January 20.
In his first term in the White House, the Republican tycoon had appointed someone from the business sector, Duke Buchan, to represent U.S. interests in Spain and Andorra.
The most recent precedent at the embassy, however, is that of Dominican-American Julissa Reynoso, proposed by the current American president, Democrat Joe Biden, who in June announced her resignation from the position to resume her work in the United States. As a result of her departure, the charge of the delegation fell to the chargé d'affaires, Rian Harris.