Mexican Executive Power

The Mexican Executive power is comoposed by the President of the Republic, the cabinet (18 Secretariats), 146 Embassies and Consulates, 299 Government Entities and 32 states with their municipalities.

The President usually lives in Los Pinos. He has six years of power, and after that he cannot be reelected. His functions are to enact and execute laws, to appoint and remove members of his cabinet, designate the Attorney General of the Republic, appoint colonels or consuls, he has the power to declare war, activate the armed forces, manage foreign policy and celebrate treaties, grant pardons to prisoners, grant concessions for the use of resources that are the domain of the nation, and to convene extraordinary sessions of the Congress.

The cabinet consisits of 18 secretariats that assist the development of the functions of the president. Each secretariat has its own objectives to work on. The 18 secretariats are Secretariat of the Interior (SEGOB), Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Secretariat of finance and Public Credit (SCHP), Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), Secretariat of Navy (SEMAR), Secretariat of Economy (SE), Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL), Attorney General (PGR), Secretariat of Civil Service (SFP), Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT), Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Secretariat of Energy (SENER), Secretariat of Agriculture (SAGARPA), Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), Secretariat of Health (SALUD), Secretariat of Tourism (SECTUR), Secretariat of Agrarian Development (SEDATU), and Secretariat of Culture (CULTURE).

For this time, Andrés Manuel López Obrador was looking for equality. His solution was to conform his cabinet with the same numer of women and men. He chose for the first time a woman to be in charge of the Secretariat of the Interior (Olga Sáchez Cordero). It is also the first time when two millenials are in charge of two different secretariats. Luisa María Alcalde Luján who is 31 years old, is in charge of the Secretariat of Labot and Social Welfare (STPS). And Roman Romero Meyer Falcón who is 34 years old, and is in charge of Secretariat of Agrarian Development (SEDATU). It is also worth mentioning that Graciela Márquez Colín, who is in charge of the Secretariat of Economy, has a master degree which she got at Harvard.

The 299 Governors have five main tasks: to enforce the Constitution and the laws in it, to administrate its territory, to present projects and programs for each municipality, to promote the development in the state and to check on the municipal presidents.

The Government Entities is basically a group that assists the development of its attibutions and functions to the President. They are services for the community. Some Government Entities are:

the international airport, CINVESTAV, LICONSA, PEMEX, CANAL ONCE, etc.

There are 80 Embassies here in Mexico. Its purposes are to protect the interet of their country, to negotiate the country’s demands on the foreign country, to promote friendly relationships between countries, and to promote their cultural, economical and scientifical growth.

The main objetives of the 66 Consulates in Mexico are to renew or issue official documents, to help detainees in the foreign country, to give important information of the state, to assist in case of a catastrophe or emergency, and to process visas and permits.

In Mexico, the President is the only one as the head of state. Unlike in The United States, where there is a President and a Vice-President. The time of presidence in Mexico is of 6 years. Whereas in USA is of 4 years and the President can be reelected once after his mandate. In Mexico, the President is elected via people’s vote, in USA it is made via the Electoral College. In a way, the mexican president is more powerful than the American. Nevertheless there functions are basically the same.

What would happen if the president died? In absoulte absence of a President in Mexico, the congress would have to choose an Interim President in no more than 60 days. Meanwhile the one in charge would be the Secretary of Governance, who in this cause is Olga Sáchez Cordero.

If the president died in the first two years of his mandate, the congress would open convocatories for the next elections. The chosen President will finish the six-year term of the previous President. But, if the President died from his third year in the power on, there would not be any elections. The interim President chosen by the Congress would be the one to finish the designated period.

-FME