Presenting Their Credentials
President Bush accepted the credentials of 12 new ambassadors last Wednesday in the first such ceremony this year. It was the largest group of new chiefs of diplomatic missions to arrive in Washington in a single month and to be accredited so promptly, according to the State Department's office of protocol. Though the administration is wrestling with other priorities at the moment, the scheduling signified that diplomacy matters during troubling times.
Despite snowy weather, the afternoon reception proceeded without a hitch, with the diplomats bringing large families for the ritual champagne reception and courteous exchanges with the leader of the world's only superpower.
By virtue of arriving on U.S. soil before the rest, Argentina's Eduardo Amadeo was the first ambassador to be received by Bush, and Khamrokhon Zaripov became the first ambassador to Washington from Tajikistan.
There were only two women among the fresh wave of ambassadors: Marina Valere from Trinidad and Tobago, and Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika from Zambia.
The others were Bolivia's Jaime Aparicio, Sri Lanka's Devinda R. Subasinghe, Panama's Roberto Alfaro, Venezuela's Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, Madagascar's Rajaonarivony Narisoa, Mongolia's Ravdangiin Bold, Malta's John Lowell and Mohamed Latheef from the Maldives.