Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez announced he would resigning from the Florida Legislature following U.S. Senate confirmation Friday to be the next U.S. ambassador to Brazil.
In his resignation letter, Perez, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami, said he would leave his legislative office on Friday, Aug. 21.
"Serving in this House and as your Speaker has been the honor of my life. We have been on a sometimes thrilling and sometimes tumultuous journey together," he said. "As you look back on this term, I hope you feel, as I do, that we have done right by this House and the people of Florida."
As he assumes his new job, Perez has been central in an ongoing diplomatic dispute between the Trump administration and the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Earlier this week, the State Department said the Brazilian government’s refusal to accept Perez’s appointment was a main reason for its decision to revoke the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States.
Brazil's government said the U.S. should have asked for consent to send Perez in private, as established by the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, before the nomination was made public. It added the U.S. government's request to send Perez is still “under analysis.”
Perez' nomination was submitted to the Senate on June 1. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on July 22 to send his nomination to the full Senate, which confirmed him on Friday.
Brazil denied visas last month for Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and one of his top aides after reports emerged that the pair were going to criticize Lula or the election process.
The State Department denied the allegations and said the two had planned to visit Brasilia on July 27-30 to meet government officials, religious leaders and others about “election integrity,” religious freedom and freedom of expression.
It said the visit was routine and that “any insinuation of a ‘ploy’ to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie.”
The Brazilian government on Tuesday stood by its assessment, saying the two Americans "were planning to visit the country to cast doubts about the integrity of the Brazilian electoral system, in an unacceptable attempt to interfere in the national political process.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
