Mexican President-elect names 8 women to Cabinet

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Mexico City,   Made up by nine men and eight women, the future Cabinet of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador includes people who may not have much experience in government, although they are experts in their fields.

On Decemnber 15, 2017, three days after Lopez Obrador launched his presidential bid, he released a list of people who would serve as his top aides if he were elected, Efe reported.

After winning last Sunday’s election, Lopez Obrador confirmed that list of people in a written statement released on Thursday, although some changes could still take place before his December 1 inauguration.

At the top of the list is Olga Sanchez Cordero, who will head the Government Secretariat and take on the enormous responsibility of tackling the wave of violence that has hit the country.

Sanchez Cordero, who will control the No. 2 position in the Mexican government (the country has no vice President), was a Supreme Court justice from 1995-2015.

Those appointed to other key positions include Hector Vasconcelos, who will be the next Secretary of Foreign Affairs at a time when tensions between Mexico and the United States are running high because of issues such as migration and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Vasconcelos has ample experience as a diplomat and in other government departments, and has remained close to Lopez Obrador over the last few years.

The post of economy secretary will go to academic Graciela Marquez, who has taught at institutions such as the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the University of Chicago.

The Secretary of Finance will be headed by Carlos Manuel Urzua, who is the author of several economics books, a researcher, and was the finance secretary for the Mexico City government from 2000 to 2003, when Lopez Obrador was mayor.

Irma Erendira Sandoval, an economist and sociologist, will head the controller-general’s office, which is responsible for uncovering corruption in government.

The post of energy secretary will go to Rocio Nahle Garcia, a chemical engineer who had a career with the state-owned oil company Pemex and was a member of Congress.