The US State Department is preparing to close a series of diplomatic missions and reduce its workforce abroad.

Around a dozen consulates are due to close their doors, and according to sources in the New York Times, Ponta Delgada could be one of them. The State Department has approximately 80,000 employees and 50,000 local citizens. Of the remainder, around 14,000 are career diplomats.

Last week, as part of the colloquium “Thinking about the Diaspora”, promoted by the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities of the Government of the Azores, held at the Coliseu Micaelense in Ponta Delgada, which Portuguese Times attended, it was imperative to speak to the US consul in Ponta Delgada, who was also present at the event.

Evaluation whenever there is a new administration

Margaret Campbell told PT (Portuguese Times) that nothing has been resolved and that all diplomatic missions abroad are assessed whenever a new US administration takes office.

“That’s normal in the US, when a new administration takes office they have to reassess the situation of the consulates abroad and that’s what’s happening at the moment, but there’s nothing concrete in that regard,” the US diplomat, whose service commission should not exceed three years, as stipulated in the statutes, began by telling Portuguese Times.

During her two and a half years of service in Ponta Delgada, Margarett Campbell, who is from Virginia, and her husband, who is from California, have nothing but praise for the Azoreans.

“We love the Azores, and their people are very hospitable.”

“We love the Azores, its people are very hospitable, extraordinarily friendly and I have to say that my children attend a local school and now speak Portuguese, they are involved in swimming lessons at Clube Naval and at Pedro Pauleta’s soccer school, they have made many friends and the truth is that we feel at home and it will be difficult to leave all this in a few months,” said the US consul in Ponta Delgada, who will return with her family to Washington, DC at the end of her term of service.

“My children are perfectly integrated here and even know a little about the history of the Azores: my youngest son knows that there were two presidents of Portugal from the Azores (Teófilo de Braga and Manuel Arriaga) and I know that it will be difficult for them to leave the island of São Miguel, but it’s the normal situation of a diplomat working abroad,” she said about rumors of the cancellation of the consulate in Ponta Delgada:

“There is no official information about a possible closure of this consulate, which is the oldest US consulate abroad (1795) and we are leaving everything ready for the next consul to take office later this year… What I can say is that the US State Department continues to evaluate our global posture to ensure that we are well positioned to face modern challenges on behalf of the American people,” concluded the US consul.

Francisco Resendes for Portuguese Times/ Diário dos Açores

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.