Claudist reinforcements

Tied down by commitments to various political parties and other allies, Mexican presidents—whether PRI, PAN, or Morena—have often had to give up cabinet positions.

Before Claudia Sheinbaum, a model was implemented that still prevails: placing the most trusted people in strategic undersecretaries... and gradually colonizing the most important departments and entities of the bureaucratic apparatus. There were extreme cases, such as the appointment of Fernando González, son-in-law of the then-leader of the SNTE, Elba Esther Gordillo, as undersecretary of Basic Education; the head of the SEP, Josefina Vázquez Mota, interpreted this decision by President Felipe Calderón as a personal affront, rather than what it truly meant: the depressurization of relations with one of the most powerful and belligerent unions.

During the Peña Nieto administration, Luis Videgaray and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong divided control of strategic areas. The first Secretary of Finance took control—via the undersecretaries—of Energy (Enrique Ochoa Reza), Communications and Transportation (Raúl Murrieta and Yuriria Mascott), and Foreign Affairs (Vanessa Rubio).

Andrés Manuel López Obrador fulfilled his commitments, but he also knew how to control them with a peculiar method: in addition to the undersecretaries, he decided to centralize the appointment of the heads of the administration and finance units. The second tier of the Fourth Transformation has been able to guarantee the continuity of public policies with the incorporation of some of López Obrador's former secretaries (Rosa Icela Rodríguez, Alicia Bárcena, and Ariadna Montiel, among the most notable examples) and will soon begin positioning the Claudistas closest to him in strategic positions.

This governance model is embodied in the case of Bertha Elena Gómez Castro, who took charge of the Undersecretary of Expenditures from the beginning of her six-year term. Along with Rosaura Ruiz—current Secretary of Science and Technology—Esthela Damián Peralta, Undersecretary of Violence Prevention at the SSPC, and Diana Alarcón, she is among the most trusted members of the federal Executive branch.

Alarcón González, who has been in Washington, D.C., for 10 months, could be the latest addition to the Claudio team. Mexico's representative to the World Bank declined to accept her friend's invitation to serve as Foreign Minister, but on the eve of the first year of this six-year term, the need to correct what hasn't worked and bolster the Second Floor of the Fourth Transformation may lead her to reconsider.

Is her birthday celebration the first sign of her return? Diana Alarcón González, María del Rocío Mejía Flores, Violeta Abreu, Rocío García Pérez, Margarita González Saravia, and Rosa Icela Rodríguez have supported the President of Mexico in building a political project. A second group of transformative women hopes that the generational change will be realized within five years. Luz Elena González Escobar, Altagracia Gómez, Citlalli Hernández, Luisa María Alcalde, and Leonor Gómez Otegui will have to choose a route to succession.

Futurisms aside, the Claudistas are fully entrenched. Some, like Sebastián Ramírez and Carlos Alberto Ulloa, have been relocated to carry out specific tasks in the short term. Others, like Jesús Esteva and Andrés Lajous, will implement the ambitious infrastructure plan that should pave the way for 2030. And still others, like Rigoberto Salgado and Alfonso Ramírez Cuéllar, will exchange their seats for more executive responsibilities. The former already serves at Conapesca (National Commission for the Promotion of Social Development), and the latter could soon see his parliamentary aspirations materialize.