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DE RUEHME #0680/01 0392147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 082147Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8792
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RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 000680 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX, WHA/EPSC 
STATE PASS USAID FOR LAC:MARK CARRATO 
TREASURY FOR IA MEXICO DESK: JASPER HOEK 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/NAFTA: ANDREW RUDMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV PGOV PINR MX
 
SUBJECT: LOPEZ OBRADOR REVEALS SOME NAMES FOR HIS POTENTIAL 
FUTURE CABINET 
 
REF: A. MEXICO 618 
     ¶B. 05 MEXICO 6432 
     ¶C. 05 MEXICO 2800 
 
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SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Leading presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez 
Obrador (AMLO) revealed the names of three key potential 
cabinet members on January 30, in an attempt to calm fears 
that his economic and foreign policies would be too radical. 
AMLO said his economic advisor, Rogelio Ramirez de la O (ref 
B), would be in charge of "economic issues," leaving it 
unclear as to whether that would be as Secretary of Finance 
or Economy.  AMLO said Juan Ramon de la Fuente, currently 
the president of the National Autonomous University of 
Mexico, would be his Secretary of Government, and Jose Maria 
Perez Gay, a writer and journalist and his foreign affairs 
advisor, would be his Foreign Secretary. 
 
---------------------------- 
RAMIREZ DE LA O FOR FINANCE? 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a January 30 interview with Televisa, AMLO said 
he would designate Rogelio Ramirez de la O to "oversee 
economic issues."  The press has taken this to mean that 
Ramirez de la O would be AMLO's Finance Secretary.  However, 
it seems more likely that Ramirez de la O would be AMLO's 
Economy Secretary.  Ramirez de la O, who has a PhD in 
economics from Cambridge, has for years run a private 
consulting firm, Ecanal, that specializes in advising major 
corporations operating in Mexico.  Although many analysts, 
as well as Mexican and foreign investors, respect Ramirez de 
la O and see him as a shrewd social and economic thinker, 
they don't see him as a future Finance Secretary given his 
lack of experience in public finance.  (Secretary of Finance 
Francisco Gil Diaz nevertheless gave his vote of confidence, 
saying Ramirez de la O would be a good candidate for the 
Finance job as "he is a serious person, a responsible 
finance man and capable of assuming such a role.") 
 
¶3. (SBU) Some AMLO critics believe Ramirez de la O would be 
an ideal candidate to occupy Eduardo Sojo's current position 
as coordinator of public policies in the President's staff. 
In that role, Ramirez de la O could more directly influence 
and moderate AMLO's economic policies.  Ramirez de la O 
could serve as an important bridge between AMLO and the 
business community, helping to lower the latter's distrust 
of the populist candidate.  Ramirez de la O is also well- 
respected in political circles. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
HEAD OF UNAM TO GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the same interview, AMLO said he would choose 
Juan Ramon de la Fuente, the rector (president) of the 
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), as his 
future Secretary of Government (in charge of domestic 
security issues, migration, and the Mexican intelligence 
service, among others).  De la Fuente served from 1994 to 
1999 as Health Secretary under former President Ernesto 
Zedillo.  He has been UNAM's rector since 1999, beginning 
his second 4 year term in 2003.  De la Fuente was close to 
former President Zedillo as part of a group of advisors led 
by Francisco Labastida, the Institutional Revolutionary 
Party (PRI)'s 2000 presidential candidate.  The same group 
in 2005 proposed de la Fuente as the PRI's alternate 
candidate for the 2006 presidential elections.  De la Fuente 
gained AMLO's confidence when he defended him during the 
"desafuero" process (ref C).  De la Fuente is a psychiatrist 
by training. 
 
----------------------------- 
PEREZ GAY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Jose Maria Perez Gay (pronounced "Guy"), AMLO's 
current foreign policy advisor, who served as Ambassador to 
Portugal at the beginning of the current administration 
thanks to his ties to former Foreign Affairs Secretary Jorge 
 
MEXICO 00000680  002 OF 002 
 
 
Castaneda, would be Secretary of Foreign Affairs should AMLO 
win.  Perez Gay is a well-known writer and journalist. 
Although he has served as the cultural attache at the 
Mexican embassy in Germany and as the cultural counselor at 
the Mexican embassies in Austria and France in addition to 
his stint as Ambassador to Portugal, he is not a career 
diplomat and does not have much experience in foreign 
policy.  Perez Gay has been inconsistent in his 
pronouncements regarding the relationship with the U.S., 
saying that the migration issue should be dealt with both 
"later" and "urgently."  He has said his priority is to "go 
back and restart Mexico's relations with Latin America." 
Perez Gay has been a constant critic of globalization and 
neoliberalism's "failure."  His support of AMLO partly 
results from his affiliation as a writer for the leftist 
daily newspaper La Jornada, which supports AMLO.  Perez Gay 
has a degree in Information Technology Sciences from the 
Iberoamericana University (Mexico) and a PhD in German 
studies from the University of Berlin. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
MADRAZO AND CALDERON'S RESPONSE TO AMLO 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) After AMLO revealed his picks, Felipe Calderon, the 
candidate for the National Action Party (PAN), called AMLO 
inconsistent for inviting to his cabinet people he had 
previously accused of being too close to the PRI.  Calderon 
said he would not yet name is own cabinet, but would focus 
on identifying the problems that needed to be solved, and 
then look for the best choices to deal with those issues. 
On the other hand, Madrazo chose to follow AMLO's lead and 
said he would consider his current economic advisor, Jose 
Chavez Presa, an economist and former legislator, for 
Secretary of Finance if Agustin Carstens, former 
 
SIPDIS 
Undersecretary of Finance and current Deputy Managing 
Director at the IMF, decided to remain in his job in 
Washington.  Other names Madrazo has mentioned as potential 
cabinet members are Rosario Green, currently the PRI's 
General Secretary, and Senator Enrique Jackson. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7. (SBU) Maintaining a solid lead in the polls (ref A), AMLO 
has used Ramirez de la O as his link to the economic center, 
while campaigning on promises to govern for Mexico's poor. 
It remains to be seen how closely AMLO will follow Ramirez 
de la O's advice.  A major daily has already written of the 
discrepencies between various statements made by AMLO and 
those of Ramirez de la O on economic issues.  Ramirez de la 
O is now in the position of not only advising his boss, but, 
as AMLO's most public economic advisor, of defending AMLO's 
pronouncement's, even if AMLO goes off-message.  Although de 
la Fuente is respected enough to have been considered by 
several political parties as an alternate presidential 
candidate, many are not sure how well a psychiatrist will be 
able to handle very tough domestic security issues.  As the 
leader of UNAM, one of Mexico's most prominent leftist 
institutions, a behemoth with tens of thousands of Mexico's 
future leaders and voters as students, de la Fuente 
represents an important base of support for AMLO's political 
campaign as well as for his own political ambitions. 
Whether Perez Gay's pronouncements against neoliberal 
policies and globalization are genuine or just rhetoric is 
an open question given his support for former President 
Salinas, a major proponent of globalization.  None of the 
three are radicals.  End comment. 
GARZA