The President-elect Announces New Members For Her Expanded Cabinet

On Thursday, August 1, 2024, as part of a restructuring in the areas of the Presidency of the Republic, Mexico's virtual President-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, introduced Arturo Zaldívar and Leticia Ramírez as part of her expanded Cabinet in the Coordinations of Policy and Government, and Intergovernmental Affairs and Social Participation, respectively.

At a press conference, Claudia Sheinbaum explained that the Presidency would be composed of four coordinations: Coordination of Policy and Government, the new Coordination of Intergovernmental Affairs and Social Participation—both presented this Thursday—as well as the Coordination of Advisors and the Coordination of Social Communication, which will be presented in the coming days.

"We are also reorganizing some areas of the Presidency of the Republic. I recently announced the Chief of Staff, Lázaro Cárdenas; I recently announced Carlos Augusto Morales as Private Secretary; and there will be four other areas of the Presidency: the Coordination of Advisors, which we are still to present; the Coordination of Social Communication, which we are also to present later; and two areas, one that already exists and an area that we are reorganizing," she explained.

In the case of Arturo Zaldívar, the next coordinator of Policy and Government, the future President highlighted his specialized profile as a Doctor of Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), former President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), and coordinator of Justice in the Dialogues for Transformation. She emphasized that one of his main tasks would be to follow up on constitutional reforms.

"He will take the position—within the Presidency—as general coordinator of Policy and Government, an area that currently exists. He will help us a lot because he will follow up on Constitutional Reforms, particularly the Judicial Reform—obviously with the autonomy that entails—but the follow-up is important because from the Executive there are a series of indispensable areas that must be fulfilled. Remember, there are 18 Constitutional Reforms and other reforms that we will propose in due course," she detailed.

In response, Arturo Zaldívar expressed: "It is a life privilege for me to join the team of the first woman President of Mexico, a committed, sensitive, brilliant, scientific woman, close to the people, and who will surely, during her government, bring years of shared prosperity, security, health, education, and Mexico will vigorously reach the construction of the second floor of Transformation."

Leticia Ramírez, the next general coordinator of Intergovernmental Affairs and Social Participation, is currently the Secretary of Public Education in the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She is a trained teacher, anthropologist, and has vast experience in pedagogy and social sciences.

Claudia Sheinbaum explained that this Coordination is a new area that will group other existing ones in the Presidency, with the purpose of helping the head of the Office of the Presidency follow up on strategic projects, fulfill commitments, and coordinate citizen participation.

On this, the future official stated: "Being part of the team of the next President of Mexico, the first woman President of the Republic, is a great commitment, which I accept with joy and conviction to always prioritize the well-being of the people."

Similarly, Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Carlos Torres Rosas would remain as Technical Secretary of the Presidential Cabinet and reaffirmed the appointment of Carlos Augusto Morales as the next Private Secretary of the Presidency, who thanked for the opportunity and reaffirmed his commitment to the continuity of the Transformation.

Finally, the future President of Mexico presented a survey showing the opinion of the Mexican people regarding the continuation of presidential conferences, highlighting that most respondents (33.1%) favored daily conferences, and 45.9% stated that they should be held between 7 and 9 in the morning, mainly to address security, health, and economic issues.