Joe Biden postpones meeting with Liz Truss on the same day it becomes known that the FBI is investigating the British woman’s chief aide
The British government has asked citizens not to join the queue leading to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral chapel in the Parliament building, as they would not arrive before the hall closes. The heads of state and leaders also arrive in London to attend the funeral and the first diplomatic intrigue ensues. The unforeseen event has disrupted relations between US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Lizz Truss.
His aides announced yesterday that the planned meeting between the two has been postponed until next Wednesday, when they meet at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Biden’s announcement that he would attend the funeral accompanied by the first lady was received in London as confirmation of the magnitude of the event.
The cancellation of the meeting coincides with the publication by The Sunday Times of a news report showing that the Truss campaign manager and now chief of staff has been investigated for his involvement in a possible crime of election corruption in the United States, and that he has reached an agreement with the FBI to cooperate as a witness without his testimony being used in a criminal trial.
Mark Fullbrook, 60, a veteran advisor to British Conservative rulers and former partner of a consultancy that has indulged in advising parties of similar ideology in different parts of the world, is alleged to have acted as an intermediary between an Italian-Venezuelan millionaire, Julio Herrera and the former governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, in the commission of a crime.
The charges against banker Herrera and Governor Vázquez, who were arrested last month, stem from the former promising to help Trump-friendly politics, with €300,000 for his election campaign, if he fired the financial regulator. Vázquez accepted the US electoral law-prohibited donation allegedly paid for by hiring the consulting services of the CT firm, of which Fullbrook was a partner.
The Financial Times two weeks ago described the low regard the Biden team diplomats have towards the new prime minister. They describe her as an impulsive person, but who speaks in clichés. It’s possible the president preferred to postpone the meeting, with court proceedings open and perhaps knowing that the Sunday Times was investigating the Fullbrook case.
Until the strange cancellation of the Biden meeting was announced, the British hosts were concerned about the most complex guest, Mohamed Bin Salman. Pushed out of diplomatic circles after the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is expected to show up to offer his condolences, but not attend the funeral. The king has a very good relationship with the House of Saud.
Russia, whose foreign ministry described such a rejection as immoral, has not been invited. The vice president of China will be present at Westminster Abbey, but a Chinese delegation was not allowed to enter the funeral chapel, because Beijing has banned several British parliamentarians from entering their country. Westminster Hall is located in the Parliament Building.
The King and Queen of Spain arrive in London this Sunday and will visit the funeral chapel before taking part in the reception offered to guests by the new King, Carlos III, during the funeral ceremony. The monarchies of the Middle East have found it inconvenient that the transfer from the royal focal point to the abbey is done by bus, according to the British press.
Source: La Verdad
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