Security & Strategic Review - May 2026

On 8 April Mexico’s senate ratified the appointment of Roberto Velasco Álvarez as the country’s new foreign minister. The move by President Claudia Sheinbaum to nominate the 38-year-old Velasco came after Juan Ramón de la Fuente, foreign minister since 2024, offered to step down from his role due to health reasons. Replacing the 74-year-old De la Fuente with Velasco, seen as a leading expert on bilateral relations with the US, signals at once a generational changing of the guard within the government’s ranks and a tactical reinforcement of Sheinbaum’s strategic priority of managing relations with the US administration of President Donald Trump.