MEXICO CITY (CN) — Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced Thursday the first six of the 19 secretaries of state, and one legal advisor, that will form her executive cabinet during her six-year presidential term beginning on Oct. 1.
“I feel very proud and honored that these six men and women with first-class experience have accepted to form our team to complete the fourth transformation over the next six years,” Sheinbaum said during a press conference at Mexico City’s Interactive Museum of Economics, referring to outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term as a fourth transformation in the context of Mexican history — the first three being the Mexican War of Independence, the Mexican Civil War and the Mexican Revolution.
The cabinet members consist of three men and three women, which is consistent with Sheinbaum’s pledge for gender equality within her cabinet.
Rosaura Ruiz will serve as the secretary of sciences, humanities, technology and innovation, a new ministry in Mexico’s executive branch.
Ruiz will lead what is now known as the National Council for Science and Technology, a government office promoting scientific and technological policies, activities and scholarships.
Sheinbaum pledged Thursday that during her term, Mexico will be a world power in science.
Ruiz served as the Secretary of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Mexico City under Sheinbaum’s administration and was the director of the Faculty of Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico between 2010 and 2018.
“I am very pleased that a scientist is governing, she is my lifelong colleague in the Faculty of Sciences and will introduce a new form of government,” Ruiz said at the press conference.
Ernestina Godoy, attorney general of Mexico City, will serve as legal advisor for the executive branch. Her legal career spans decades as a founding member of various civil society organizations including the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, Civic Alliance and Convergence of Civil Organizations for Democracy. She also practiced legal defense for victims of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.
Alicia Bárcena will be the secretary of environment and natural resources. She is currently Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs and served as executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean between 2008 and 2022.
Taking Bárcena’s place as secretary of foreign affairs will be Juan Ramón de la Fuente, who was appointed by López Obrador as Mexico’s representative to the United Nations. He is another veteran of the executive branch, as he served as the secretary of health under President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León’s administration between 1994 and 1999.
Marcelo Ebrard, former head of government of Mexico City from 2006 to 2012, will be the secretary of economy. Ebrard was the secretary of foreign affairs under López Obrador’s administration between 2018 and 2023.
Julio Berdegué Sacristán will be the secretary of agriculture and rural development. Berdegué Sacristán was the former assistant director-general and regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. His research has led the charge in Mexican food sovereignty, specifically with non-GMO corn production in Mexico.
Claudia Sheinbaum will announce another six cabinet members on June 27.
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