Who's Who in Claudia Sheinbaum's Cabinet
Who's Who in Claudia Sheinbaum's Cabinet
The Mexican president-elect has revealed cabinet picks for key secretariats, including Foreign Relations and Economy.
If it seems early, it is. Incoming Mexican presidents tend to announce their cabinet choices close to their inaugurations. But President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who doesn’t take office until October 1, announced six members of her team on June 20. This comes after she revealed on June 3, a day after her electoral win, that Finance Secretary Rogelio Ramírez de la O would continue in his post after she takes office.
During the June 20 announcement, Sheinbaum shared the names of three women and three men. It is anticipated that the country’s first woman president will have a gender-balanced cabinet. Mexico already has gender parity laws in place for political roles. Sheinbaum advisor Altagracia Gómez has said the next president will take steps to extend legal requirements for parity to the presidential cabinet.
Who has the president-elect announced thus far? Here’s a look at who will be on her team
There has been no lack of questions about what Ebrard’s political destiny might be. The former Mexico City mayor (2006–2012) served as foreign secretary for the majority of the López Obrador government until he stepped down from the role in June 2023 in a bid to be the presidential candidate of the governing Morena party. After losing Morena’s internal competition to Sheinbaum, speculation grew that he would leave the party.
Instead, he eventually backed Sheinbaum’s campaign, and she, in turn, has selected him to be the country’s economy secretary, which caused a peso rally.
Ebrard, a moderate, could be viewed as a natural choice to run the Economy Ministry and the international trade discussions that will come with it—including the 2026 review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Over the course of serving as foreign secretary, Ebrard worked closely with both the Biden and Trump administrations, making him a known entity in Washington, regardless of the outcome of the U.S. election come November. In fact, in 2019 Ebrard led a team that convinced then-President Donald Trump to walk back a tariff threat if Mexico didn’t do more to control immigration flows at the two countries’ border. Given AMLO’s infrequent international travel, Ebrard often stood in for the president as Mexico’s representative at international summits while foreign secretary.
De la Fuente left his role as Mexico’s permanent representative to the UN to join Sheinbaum’s campaign and, after her victory, took on the task of running her transition team.
A surgeon and psychiatrist by training, de la Fuente was health secretary from 1994 through 1999, during the administration of President Ernesto Zedillo. He then became rector of UNAM, Latin America’s largest university—a position he held until 2007.
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Finance secretary in the AMLO government since 2021, Ramírez de la O has had a long career working with various international organizations and in the private sector. The economist served as an advisor to AMLO’s campaign during his first presidential bid in 2006 and was his proposed finance minister during his second attempt in 2012.
Ramírez de la O was the first cabinet member named by Sheinbaum; on the day after her June 2 electoral win, she announced he would continue in his role. His selection seeks to send a reassuring message on the economic front, although there are signs of challenges ahead. The peso has been volatile since Sheinbaum’s victory, and her government will face a rising fiscal deficit and the question of how to handle state oil firm Pemex’s massive debt.
Ramírez de la O responded to his appointment with a pledge of financial discipline and macroeconomic stability to investors, international organizations, and rating agencies.
AMLO’s foreign secretary, who has held the role for just under a year, will continue in a cabinet role in the next government, but will instead head the environmental secretariat. Before that, she was briefly Mexico’s ambassador to Chile after service as the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2008 to 2022.
A biologist, she has also held various roles and published research related to environmental issues, including founding director of the Earth Council and coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Sustainable Development Program at UNDP.
Though elected to be a senator in the incoming Congress, Godoy will assume the role of legal advisor. Previously the chief prosecutor in Mexico City during Sheinbaum’s tenure as mayor, Godoy was a controversial figure in the capital. Celebrated by Morena for playing a role in reducing violent crime in Mexico City, critics charged that she was known for abuse of power and espionage.
Godoy, who early in her career served as a legal advisor to victims of Mexico City’s devastating 1985 earthquake, helped found Morena when it began as a political movement in 2011. In addition, she was legislator in the capital’s legislature and worked in the government of Clara Brugada, incoming Mexico City mayor, in Iztapalapa, the capital’s most populous borough.
A biologist and academic, Ruiz served a similar role in Mexico City’s cabinet during Sheinbaum’s tenure as mayor. Now, she will head a new secretariat focused on scientific investigation, technology, and innovation.
She previously held a number of academic roles, including director of the Faculty of Sciences at UNAM, Sheinbaum’s alma mater.
A long-time agronomist and academic, Berdegué was, until 2022, subdirector general and regional representative of the Food and Agricultural Organization to the UN for Latin America and the Caribbean.
After being named agricultural secretary, Berdegué voiced support for more sustainable agricultural practices. He also said the next Mexican government will continue to be opposed to both the cultivation of and the importation of genetically modified corn for human consumption. The AMLO government’s moves to phase out imports of GMO corn has already been a source of friction between the United States and Mexico.
A looming row over GMO corn may serve as a “litmus test for Mexico’s commitment to USMCA,” explains North American trade research expert Diego Marroquín.
