Fresh on arrival for a three-year tour of duty in Guadalajara, United States Consul General Susan K. Abeyta has already embarked on a busy agenda of public appearances, including a visit to the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Tuesday, September 11 for an introduction to expatriate residents and commemoration of the 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil.
Prior to the event, Abeyta paid a courtesy call at Casa Jalisco to meet Governor Emilio Gonzalez. The previous day she toured the medical facilities at Guadalajara’s Hospital Civil. Last week, the new diplomat paused during her first day on the job to step out of the consulate to greet visa applicants lined up outside on the sidewalk.
On her first trip to lakeside, Abeyta was accompanied by consular chief Kerry Brougham and other staff members, along with her husband Victor, a retired foreign service officer. The entourage received a warm welcome from LCS President Howard Feldstein, executive director Terry Vidal, American Legion Department of Mexico Commander Tim Stern, Chapala area consular wardens and a small crowd of local residents.Showing she had done her homework on the community, Abeyta opened her remarks to the audience with a brief tribute to expat colony pioneer Neill James.
Touching on her own duties she said, “One of the consulate’s core responsibilities is to provide reliable information to U.S. citizens who visit, live and do business in Mexico.” She mentioned that consular outreach to the lakeside area is quite “unusual” in consideration of its unique population characteristics. She also urged U.S. citizens to vote in the November elections, referring her listeners to the consulate website for guidance.
The consul then read president Barack Obama’s proclamation in remembrance of the 9/11 tragedy, opening with the passage: “On September 11, 2001, a bright autumn day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. Thousands of innocent men, women, and children perished when mighty towers collapsed in the heart of New York City and wreckage burned in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. They were family and friends, service members and first responders — and the tragedy of their loss left pain that will never fade and scars our country will never forget.” She turned the podium over to American Legion Post 7 Chaplain Tom Schmidt to lead a prayer and moment of silence.
With the formalities over, Abeyta spent close to an hour casually chatting with the people on hand before joining her spouse for a look around the LCS grounds.
Abeyta was assigned to Guadalajara after a stint as consular section chief at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey. She served previous posts in Buenos Aires, Moscow, Mexico City, Bogota and Washington, D.C.
She holds a B.A. from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and an M.A. in Philosophy from the Ludwig-Maximillians University in Munich, Germany and received advanced language training at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. She is fluent in Spanish, German, Russian and Turkish.