U.S. ambassador to Panama resigns

Ambassador to Panama John Feeley, has resigned. The Ambassador’s reason for his resignation, he says “he no longer felt able to serve President Donald Trump”.

Feeley’s exit was communicated to the State Department officials on Dec. 27 according to reports it was not a response to Trump’s alleged use of the word “shithole” to describe Haiti and African countries at a meeting on Thursday.

Returns reports, Trump denies using the term.

“As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies,” Feeley said, according to an excerpt of a resignation letter read to Reuters on Friday.

“My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come.”

U.S. officials declined to discuss Feeley’s reasons for leaving the department after a long career, much of which was spent working on Latin American issues.

Feeley’s career included serving as the No. 2 official in the State Department bureau that deals with Latin America, as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City and as director for Central American affairs in Washington.