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.
This article was originally published on June 20, 2024 and has since been updated.
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. She shared another five names on June 27. 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.
Thus far, Sheinbaum has announced six women and seven men for her team. 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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A long-serving city bureaucrat, González most recently served as the city’s financial chief during Sheinbaum’s term. A close ally, she was integral to efforts to expand the city’s tax base. While in this role, González also helped accomplish the construction of a solar array on the Mercado de Abastos, a signature project for Sheinbaum.
As energy secretary, González will attempt to thread the needle on Sheinbaum’s energy policy, which proposes continuing AMLO’s plans for the state to develop oil and gas while also facilitating an energy transition through investment in alternative energy. In her role, González will also sit on the boards of Pemex, the state-owned oil company, and CFE, the state-owned electric utility. Sheinbaum has articulated her intention to make both organizations more solvent and productive.
In the June 27 press conference, González said, “The first priority will be guaranteeing energy sovereignty.”
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.
Another holdover from the AMLO administration, Buenrostro, has served as the country’s secretary of the economy since 2022. Before that, she helmed the country’s tax agency for two years. These positions made Buenrostro a pivotal figure in AMLO’s financial vision, including his pushes for austerity and the expansion of the country’s tax base. Buenrostro frequently represented the government abroad, including on matters related to the USCMA.
Buenrostro has served on financial oversight positions in several agencies including Pemex, the secretary of tourism, and the government of Mexico City. She will now oversee the disbursement of the federal budget.
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.
An expert on liver disease, Kershenobich, 81, has served as a director of medical institutes and research centers, including sitting on the UNAM governing board. He joined Sheinbaum’s campaign in December 2023 to help craft health proposals, especially around chronic diseases.
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.
Like Sheinbaum, Esteva Medina is a scientist trained at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He’s spent most of his career working on infrastructure projects in Mexico City, including the beloved Vasconcelos Library. Under Sheinbaum, he served as the head of the capital’s public works and services secretariat.
A sociologist by training, Vega Rangel spent much of her career working for housing non-profits and government organizations throughout Mexico City. During the first four years of AMLO’s presidency, she presided over Conavi, Mexico’s housing authority. Then, in 2022, she was appointed as undersecretary of the ministry she will now helm. Vega Rangel, as highlighted by Sheinbaum, will be tasked with executing the president-elect's promise to build one million homes.
José Merino, best known as "Pepe", will head a new federal agency. The professor helmed a similar organization for Mexico City, during Sheinbaum’s mayorship. In that role, he helped streamline and simplify government functions, moving 40 percent of the city’s functions online and promoting an open government plan. His announcement was made on June 26, outside of a major news conference.
