Yesterday
, Mexico’s President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador appointed a group of 8 people of his absolute trust to become his closest circle and support him in his endeavors as chief of state. The team will operate at the National Palace of Mexico City .
López Obrador also informed that he would reduce state advertising by 50% in all communication media as part of the upcoming government’s austerity policy. Furthermore, he stated that there would be no press offices at government bodies; instead, they would all be concentrated in the office of the Social Communications Coordinator , Jesús Ramírez Cuevas .
In a press conference, he stated that the appointments implied structural adjustments such as a reduction in coordination and that his team would work at the National Palace . However, he claimed that the building would need no refurbishments.
Alejandro Esquer Verdugo
was appointed private secretary for the Presidency of the Republic . He has worked with López Obrador for many years and he will handle the presidential agenda personally.
Businessman Alfonso Romo
will be bureau chef at the President’s Office , working as a link with businessmen and investors from Mexico and the rest of the world. He will also help in the elaboration of strategic projects.
Raimundo Artis Espriú
will work at the digital strategy coordination. He has been part of López Obrador’s team for six years and will now handle standard development and implementation at the federal government’s digital systems. He will be virtually responsible for overall connectivity in the national territory.
Working as Advisors’ Coordinator, Lázaro Cárdenas Batel , son of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and former governor of Michoacán, will personally assist and advise the President in the elaboration of projects and consultancy.
Gabriel García Hernández will take over the General Coordination for Comprehensive Development Programs
, coordinating union delegates and implementing development programs.
Jesús Ramírez Cuevas
, who has been a close colleague of the left-wing politician since 2010 , will work at the Social Communication Coordination . The journalist and director of the “ Regeneración ” newspaper ( MORENA ’s main broadcasting body) will be responsible for addressing newspapers, radio stations, TV channels , and everything that relates to social media.
Ramírez Cuevas will serve as spokesman until someone else is appointed. Furthermore, the President-elect intends to reduce social communications areas at government ministries to the minimum and focus them in a single media coordination.
César Yáñez Centeno
, a close friend and colleague of López Obrador, will take over the General Government and Politics Coordination , which handles the President’s relationship with both public and social sectors, as well as communications with government bodies and entities of the public administration. He will also be responsible for the Citizen Attention department and serve as coordinator of the assistantship, a group of 20 people that will handle the personal protection of the President-elect.
Daniel Asaf
will be responsible for the assistantship, handling security and travel logistics for the President. He will take up his functions on September 16 , when the politician from Tabasco will undertake an appreciation tour.
dm