Mexico & Nafta - January 2012 (ISSN 1741-444X)

On 14 December President Felipe Calderón reshuffled his cabinet, probably for the final time.

The changes were the result of two ministers and the president’s private secretary, Roberto Gil, wishing to run for election to the senate in 2012, on the ruling Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) ticket. Both of the outgoing ministers, Javier Lozano, the labour minister, and Salvador Vega, the anti-corruption minister, were replaced by their senior deputies. The new labour minister, Rosalinda Vélez, is the first woman to hold the position.

Under Mexico’s constitution, ministers must stand down six months before seeking election: this provision means that no other cabinet members can now seek an elected position in 2012.

Calderón’s new private secretary is José Guadalupe Rodríguez, who was previously in charge of the traditional pork-barrel agency, Caminos y Puentes Federales.