Claudia Sheinbaum picks Lázaro Cárdenas Batel as chief of staff

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday introduced Lázaro Cárdenas Batel as her chief of staff, signaling the return of the son of revered leftist icon Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas to the inner circle of the National Palace.

With the announcement, Sheinbaum revived the key cabinet position that was first created by former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988–1994). Entrepreneur Alfonso Romo nominally filled the role at the outset of the current administration, but he resigned just two years into the term and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not designate a successor.

In making the presentation, Sheinbaum declared that she has complete confidence in Cárdenas and that as chief of staff, he would be in charge of coordinating the new cabinet.

“His job will be to help me stay on top of strategic issues while also maintaining relations with key sectors of society,” Sheinbaum said during the ceremony at her transition headquarters in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa.

When asked if his job would include meeting with members of the opposition, Cárdenas said he would do so.

“Whatever she asks and whenever she needs me to, [I will meet with opposition party leaders],” he said. “My tasks will correspond to the [political] moment. The president [-elect] has made it very clear what she expects, and [my office] will not intrude on other secretaries’ authority. The government has a very clear structure.”

Cárdenas was a founding member of the defunct Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and served as governor of Michoacán from 2002 to 2008.

He returns to the National Palace after resigning from his position as chief advisor to the president in March 2023. Cárdenas stepped down after López Obrador made derogatory comments about his father. López Obrador accused the elder Cárdenas, a three-time presidential candidate, of betraying his movement by joining forces with the conservative opposition.

In response to a question from a reporter, Lázaro Cárdenas said that his resignation did not indicate a break with the ruling party or the “Fourth Transformation” movement soon to be led by Sheinbaum.

“I did not break with the party,” he said. “My cycle as lead advisor had run its course, and I saw an opportunity elsewhere.”

Cárdenas spent the past year working in an administrative position with the ​​Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

Sheinbaum had planned to introduce three other cabinet selections — Labor, Tourism and Culture — but told reporters she will present them at a later date. The president-elect had earlier said that she would reveal her choices to lead the Defense Ministry and the Naval Ministry in September.

The president-elect also said that her agenda for the remainder of the transition period would feature Monday and Wednesday press conferences, cabinet and policy meetings on Tuesday and weekend tours of the country alongside López Obrador.

With reports from El Financiero, Sin Embargo and El Universal