The State Department developed a plan to close a dozen consulates from the United States abroad, mainly in Europe, and is considering closing many more missions, The New York Times reported Thursday.
According to this medium, which cites American officials, some of the affected consular offices would be that of Florence (Italy), Strasbourg (France), Hamburg (Germany) and Ponta Delgada (Portugal), as well as one in Brazil.
The plan would also include the dismissal of local citizens who work for the hundreds of embassies and consulates in the United States and that are responsible for supporting the tasks of diplomatic personnel.
“The State Department continues to evaluate our global position to ensure that we are better positioned to address modern challenges on behalf of the US people,” said a spokesman for the department to Efe when asked about the issue.
The closure of consulates would be aligned with the plans of the magnate Elon Musk, the right hand of the president, Donald Trump, to drastically cut the spending of the administration with the closure of offices and programs, and the massive dismissal of federal employees.
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These measures occur when China has already surpassed the United States in number of diplomatic missions in the world, with 274 against 271, said The New York Times citing a study of the Lowy Institute.
Embassy are official diplomatic representations and are responsible for maintaining political relations with the host country, while consular offices attend administrative issues, such as the expedition of visas for foreigners, and support US citizens abroad.
On his first day in office, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, told employees that there would be “changes” within the department, but promised that these would not be “destructive”
With EFE information
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