The replacement, this year, of managers in three of the highly specialized institutes of the Ministry of Health set the stage for a battle within the sector, between the secretary of the branch, Jorge Alcocerand a faction that used the chaos exacerbated by the pandemic to control key positions, embodied in Gustavo Reyes Terancoordinator of these institutes, backed by Raquel Buenrostrocurrent Secretary of Economy, who has been endowed with an enormous dose of power during the government Lopez Obrador.
The high-level bid aborted, on Monday the 15th, the appointment of a new director in the National Institute of Genomic Medicine (Inmegen), after a cascade of protests from the medical community, inside and outside the organization, given evidence that Reyes Terán seeks to impose a protégé in that position, Dr. Felix Recillasabout which there are indications of alleged financial deviations and cover-up of at least one case of sexual harassment by subordinates in another institution.
Having put the replacement in Inmegen on hold – by determination of the Health and Public Function secretariats – was a political slap in the face for Reyes Terán and drew fresh wind on the process, which became toxic after his stalwarts were placed so much in the Governing Board as well as in the Inmegen Auscultation Committee to outline its new head, after the departure of the previous director, Luis Arturo Herrera, last February. Likewise, an atmosphere of greater certainty was generated for the next relays, this same year, in two more highly specialized centers: the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) and the National Cancer Institute (InCan).
Reyes Terán, an infectious disease specialist who enjoys prestige in the community that fights the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the country, was appointed in October 2019 as head of the Coordinating Commission of the National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals, which brings together to more than 25 institutions in this field, national and regional, with the highest rank within the Ministry of Health. Undoubtedly, its cathedrals of medical science.
His arrival in office was attributed to Raquel Buenrostro, the then powerful senior official of the Ministry of Finance, to whom President López Obrador was entrusted from the start of the government -among other multiple powers- the direct control of expenses and purchases of all the health sector, under the presumption that it was kidnapped by a huge corruption mafia.
The iron work style of the official ended up overwhelmed by a virtual paralysis of the federal health system – and without any criminal action against the allegedly corrupt. To this was added Reyes Terán through actions described as witch hunts, draconian cuts – it is estimated that there are 9,000 unfilled jobs in his area alone – and the creation of political and economic interest groups.
Another figure that supported Reyes Terán was the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo Lopez Gatell, whose popularity during the health crisis led him to lobby for his boss, the Secretary of Health Alcocer Varela, to be removed and replace him in the position. One more ally was the also powerful ex-secretary of the Public Function, Irma Erendira Sandoval.
However, the scenario has changed a lot. The model of Mrs. Buenrostro – baptized the “iron lady” – became a disaster during the covid-19 pandemic. In January 2020, she was appointed head of the SAT, and in October 2022, Secretary of the Economy. She no longer has under her hand the financial springs of yesteryear, which now rest on the desk of the head of the Treasury, Rogelio Ramírez se la O, with whom she had deaf struggles. Irma Eréndira Sandoval was expelled from the presidential circle and returned to her academic cubicle at UNAM. López Gatell has been diluted and is reported to be looking for a position in the next federal Congress that will provide some shine – and power. After the death of Insabi, the strategy for the health sector started almost from scratch under the axis of the IMSS Bienestar.
Consequently, the crisis over the appointment of a new director at Inmegen has a more complex context. Today the secretaries of Health, Jorge Alcocer, and of the Public Function, robert salcedoThey are responsible for fine-tuning a new model to assemble in the sector. And for this they must close the files opened in five years of trials and errors.
Under this panorama, the display of impositions of Mr. Reyes Terán can only be described -with his boasts and leaks to the press – as a provocation or a final bet. It is to be expected that this does not prosper and that, in contrast, the end of its dark cycle is looming, which almost no one will miss. We will have to be attentive to the end of this plot.
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