The minister responsible for Mexico’s domestic affairs will return to the Senate and her post will be taken by the governor of Tabasco, President López Obrador announced Thursday afternoon.

Olga Sánchez Cordero, 74, has served as minister of the interior since the López Obrador administration took office on December 1, 2018. She returns to the Senate, to which she was elected in September 2018, prior to which she was a Supreme Court justice for 20 years.

Tabasco Governor Adán Augusto López, 57, will take her place subject to obtaining a leave of absence in Tabasco, where he has been governor since January 2019. His terms ends at the end of this year.

López served as a senator between 2012 and 2018 and prior to that as a Tabasco state deputy between 2009 and 2012.

The president said in a video posted Thursday afternoon on social media that he invited Sánchez to head the Ministry of the Interior to set a precedent indicating a women could hold the post. 

He praised her for her support and loyalty before introducing the new minister as his “friend, countryman and close friend.”

Mexico News Daily