Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs to Address AJC Global Forum

Claudia Ruiz Massieu, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, will address the AJC Global Forum 2016 in Washington, D.C., on June 6.

“We are very excited and honored to host Secretary Ruiz Massieu,” said AJC Chief Executive Officer David Harris. “At this pivotal moment, the U.S.-Mexico bilateral partnership is more important than ever. We look forward to welcoming the Secretary in front of more than 2,500 civic, political, and religious leaders from over 70 countries around the globe.”

Secretary Ruiz Massieu will be accompanied by 50 Consuls General of Mexico serving in the U.S., as well as 30 Mexican-American leaders, all of whom will also be attending the AJC Global Forum. This path-breaking initiative follows the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s invitation to AJC to present at its annual ambassadors conference in Mexico City in January 2015. At the time, the event’s organizers called AJC “the model of effective advocacy.”

In November, more than 150 AJC leaders, diplomats, and government officials, as well as partners from 13 Jewish communities across Latin America and Spain and representatives of the Mexican-American community, gathered in Mexico City to mark the tenth anniversary of AJC’s Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA).

The anniversary event was highlighted by a gala dinner, which featured a keynote address by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Attendees at the dinner included Secretary Ruiz Massieu, as well as the Secretaries of the Interior and Economy.

Last month, it was announced that Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will also address this year’s AJC Global Forum.

For decades, AJC, the premier global Jewish advocacy organization, has engaged with the government of Mexico, as well as with Mexican leaders in the U.S., to discuss deepening ties among Mexico, the U.S., Israel, and the Mexican-American and Jewish communities. BILLA is chaired by Tom Kahn and directed by Dina Siegel Vann, who is originally from Mexico.