Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum gave a second glimpse of what her government will be like starting October 1. After announcing the names of the first six portfolios last week, a new announcement has laid another brick in the future administration. As she did last week, Sheinbaum again presented three women and three men who will make up her team, although one of them, Rogelio Ramírez de la O —whose position as head of the Treasury Department had already been confirmed— was not present. The most recent appointments continue the line marked in the first announcement, which showed a balance between the experience they have in the matter they are going to attend, loyalty to the political movement and commitment to public office.
In a nod to continuity with the Administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum has rescued, beyond the head of the Treasury, Raquel Buenrostro, now in Economy, to lead the Ministry of Public Function. The future president has also promoted Edna Elena Vega Rangel, current undersecretary of Territorial and Agrarian Development, as head of the portfolio. The virtual president has also used her team in the Government of Mexico City. From those ranks she has chosen Luz Elena González Escobar, former head of the capital’s finances, to head Energy; and Jesús Antonio Esteva, in charge of Works, as Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation. The prestigious doctor David Kershenobich, who accompanied the campaign from the beginning, will be in charge of Health for the next six years.
“I am very happy with the team we are forming,” Sheinbaum noted at the end of the event. After the first round of appointments, there was speculation about the possibility that this Thursday portfolios that will be important in the next Government, such as the Interior or Security, would be announced. Although regarding the latter, it was the president-elect who ruled it out this Wednesday by announcing that this week there would be no information on positions related to security. The second batch of names released this Thursday has pointed to portfolios with less weight in the Executive, with the exception of the Treasury, for which its future head was already known. What the five new elected officials reveal is the amalgamation that Sheinbaum seeks to make in her team, where she promised to mix characters with academic training and experience in public service, according to what she said in an interview with EL PAÍS.
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For a portfolio like Energy, which will be of great interest to an administration led by a physicist with a PhD in Energy Engineering, Sheinbaum has chosen an official who has been a kind of right-hand woman for her in the capital’s government. As Secretary of Administration and Finance in the city, Luz Elena González Escobar became one of the most trusted people of the future president. When she left the local Executive to embark on the presidential succession, she considered the possibility of leaving the head of government to her close collaborator. But the lack of political capital led her to appoint Martí Batres, with two conditions: both González Escobar and the then Secretary of Capital Security, Omar García Harfuch, would supervise and accompany all decisions.
An economist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the future Secretary of Energy has an extensive resume in both academic training and public experience. She studied a master’s degree in Law at the Technological University, another in urban planning at the University of Catalonia, and had a stint at the prestigious College of Mexico (Colmex). “She knows energy issues,” the virtual president said when introducing her, “she helped coordinate the photovoltaic panel project at the supply center. [de Ciudad de México]”. One of the aspects that stood out the most was the contribution he had in budgetary and financial matters, “which is an extremely important issue in the Ministry of Energy, with Pemex and CFE,” he said.
The future owner has announced what her mission will be within the Ministry of Energy, where they will seek to maintain one of López Obrador’s promises: energy sovereignty. However, the next administration has an enormous challenge in this matter. The president has opted for national sovereignty at the expense of the environment, because his policy has been a bet for the oil industry. The new six-year term, however, will seek to “advance the energy transition,” González Escobar said in an interview, although without giving further details of what the policy on this matter will be like. He has only made one point: “People have to know that we are here to guarantee national sovereignty, state companies are fundamental and we are going to continue protecting them.”
Another name that Sheinbaum has rescued from the capital government has been that of Jesús Antonio Esteva, who will be in the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport, currently led by Jorge Nuño. The name of Andrés Lajous, the city’s Secretary of Mobility, was mentioned for this portfolio. But Esteva’s 30-year career, now in the city’s Works, and the loyalty he showed to Sheinbaum in some of the most critical moments, such as the tragic fall of Metro Line 12, finally prevailed. A civil engineer and master in Structures from UNAM, the future member of the Cabinet was in charge of flagship works in Sheinbaum’s Administration in the capital, such as the second floor of Periférico or the reconstruction and reopening of Line 12. “I feel very proud of all the works we developed with Jesús in Mexico City,” she said at the presentation. The next administration will have to decide whether the bulk of public works will remain in the hands of the Army, as happened during this administration, or whether power will be returned to the agency originally designed to take charge.
The names of continuity
Sheinbaum has opted to keep Raquel Buenrostro, one of the strong names in the López Obrador government, on her team. A mathematician by training, and with a master’s degree in Economics from Colmex, Buenrostro currently holds the position of Secretary of the Economy. Speculation surrounding the next Cabinet initially pointed to the possibility that she would remain in charge of that portfolio. That possibility was finally ruled out last week, when Marcelo Ebrard was appointed as the next head. Despite that, the future president has chosen to make room for her on her team.
Known for her toughness and good results, Buenrostro, 54, began the López Obrador Government as head of the Treasury Department. In 2020 she was named head of the Tax Administration Service, where she became the great collector of the Executive, in addition to being the guardian of the much-touted republican austerity. Her merits took her to the Ministry of Economy, where the president put her to defend Mexican interests against the trade agreement with the United States and Canada (TMEC). “She is an incorruptible woman, everyone in the Cabinet, but particularly she is a woman who, in the place where she has been, has developed in an outstanding way,” the president-elect praised.
The official will have a new mission for the next six years, to control the work and accounts of the entire federal government, where she will have an extra eye on foreign trade matters, as she announced this Thursday. “The challenge is to combat corruption, to help the president-elect as much as possible so that all the secretaries achieve their goals,” she told the media when leaving the event.
The other name rescued from the current Administration has been that of Edna Elena Vega Rangel. Current number two of the Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, the official will take office in the next six-year term. Of all the appointments made this Thursday, this was perhaps the most surprising. For that portfolio, the pools were considering the name of Renata Turrent, a young economist who was part of the Dialogues for Transformation, forums organized by Morena to debate crucial issues for the future. Doctor in Sociology, Vega Rangel entered the López Obrador Government from day one, in December 2018. Since then she has assumed several positions within the same secretariat that she will now head. The official, as Sheinbaum explained, will be in charge of one of the president-elect’s great campaign promises, the construction of one million social housing units.
The contribution of the academy
One of the most distinctive features that Sheinbaum has had in the eleven appointments she has made so far – along with the six from last week and the appointment of José Merino to head the new Digital Transformation Agency – is the commitment to renowned members of the scientific community, who have been mixed with loyal collaborators and long-standing politicians. This move had a name again this Thursday, that of the renowned doctor David Kershenobich, who will be in charge of the Health portfolio. At 81 years of age, the surgeon has wide recognition from the academy. He has been president of the National Academy of Medicine, National Science Award winner, received multiple honoris causa and recognition medals, in addition to being a member of several medical academies, such as Spain.
In Health, the next Government faces several challenges. In this matter, the López Obrador Government foundered between projects that did not have much impact, and in some cases, ended up generating more problems than solutions. About this, specifically the megapharmacy promoted by the current Executive or the IMSS Bienestar program, Kershenobich was consulted this Thursday. The response has been an endorsement of what has been done in recent years. The doctor responded that they will continue to support these policies. “The main challenge continues to be that attention can be given [sanitaria] to the entire population,” he said in an interview. “Will it be better than in Denmark?” a journalist asked him, referring to the president’s statements, which assured that the Mexican system would end up being better than that of that European country. “I don’t know about Denmark, but we are going to move forward and have a solid health system, yes.”
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