LAS VEGAS (AP) - The chief of the Mexican Consulate in Nevada is leaving after eight years at the Las Vegas-based post.
Mariano Lemus Gas announced his departure after returning from the inauguration of Mexico's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto.
A replacement will take over on Jan. 22.
Lemus Gas tells El Tiempo, a Spanish-language sister newspaper of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that his move isn't related to the presidential change, and he's stayed much longer than he expected to when he arrived in 2005.
The consul says he is passionate about his country and its future, but regrets Mexico has not achieved a place among emerging world powers.
He also says he's strived to improve Mexico's image among foreigners and his countrymen, showing them the nation is not all "violence and corruption."
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