Mexico has chosen an academic with little political experience as its latest ambassador to the United States.

Miguel Basañez is currently serving as a professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School, where his academic bio says, “He assisted in the expansion of democracy in México through the introduction of opinion polling for elections in 1985" and that he has "combined a career in academia, opinion research, and government.”

Controversy with Basañez’s appointment stems from his insider ties to President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration, coupled with the fact that he has no diplomatic experience.

Until Basañez was appointed last week, Mexico had been without an ambassador to Washington for six months.

The 65-year-old Basañez has been connected to the president’s inner circle for three decades. As reported in the Guardian, Basañez served as the attorney general of Edomex -- an abbreviation for the State of Mexico -- under Governor Alfredo del Mazo, a politician who happens to be Peña Nieto’s second cousin. Between 2005 and 2008 Basañez acted as President Peña Nieto’s advisor, as well as his chief pollster.

Through these associations Basañez is said to have ingratiated himself into the Atlacomulco group, a powerful and secretive organization within the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), whose members have lorded over Mexico’s political scene for half a century.

Dr. John Ackerman, a law professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, says that the Atlacamulco group has always been concerned with maintaining political and economic power.

Finding fault with what he sees as the unethical nepotism displayed by the group, Ackerman describes the association as “a network of personal friends and family who literally jump from one official public post to another, which allows federal power to be concentrated.”

“The appointment of Basañez is without a doubt business as usual,” said Ackerman.