In 1979, she was appointed a
White House Fellow by President
Jimmy Carter, serving as a special assistant to former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Moon Landrieu.
Clinton administration In 1998, President
Bill Clinton nominated Aponte to serve as the United States' ambassador to the
Dominican Republic. However, Aponte asked that her nomination be withdrawn from consideration by the Senate after her involvement with Roberto Tamayo was made public. After Aponte's nomination was withdrawn, Clinton designated Aponte a special assistant in the Office of Presidential Personnel.
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration In 2001, Puerto Rico
Governor Sila Calderón appointed Aponte to be executive director of the
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, a post she held until 2004.
Obama administration Aponte was serving as a member of the
District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission when President Obama nominated her in December 2009 to serve as the
United States Ambassador to El Salvador. In 2011, Aponte helped organize and hosted President Obama's state visit to El Salvador as part of a Latin American tour that also included Brazil and Chile. In August 2011, she personally hosted a visit from U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, who was meeting with Salvadoran counterparts. In December 2011, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid filed for
cloture on Aponte's nomination, in an effort to break Senate Republicans'
filibuster of her nomination. However, the cloture vote failed by a vote of 49–37. Aponte returned to the United States at the end of December 2011, when her recess appointment expired. On June 14, 2012, the Senate confirmed Aponte to be the ambassador by
voice vote. She presented her credentials on August 21, 2012, and served until February 7, 2016. Aponte was also nominated by President Obama as a permanent representative to the OAS, but the Senate adjourned in December 2014 before taking up her nomination.
Biden administration On October 8, 2021, President
Joe Biden nominated Aponte to be the next U.S ambassador to Panama. The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee did not act on it for the rest of the year, and it was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022. President Biden resent Aponte's nomination the next day. Hearings on her nomination were held before the Foreign Relations Committee on May 18, 2022. Her nomination was favorably reported on June 9, 2022. She was confirmed by the Senate on September 29, 2022. She presented her credentials to President
Nito Cortizo on November 21, 2022.
Private sector Aponte has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Oriental Group, a major financial and banking services enterprise in Puerto Rico, from 1998 to 2001 and from 2005 until appointed ambassador to El Salvador. In addition to decades of law practice, she was a vice-chair of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and a consultant to the
Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network (HITN). She served as a director at the
National Council of La Raza, the
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the
University of the District of Columbia and
Rosemont College. She presided over the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia. From 1983 to 1984 she served as the
Hispanic National Bar Association’s first female president. == Personal life ==