VZCZCXRO9122
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #6604/01 3311437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271437Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4362
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF EDUCATION WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USNORTHCOM
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MEXICO 006604 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR MELLE AND EISSENSTAT 
STATE FOR A/S SHANNON 
STATE FOR INR/B 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX, WHA/EPSC, EB/ESC 
STATE FOR OES 
NSC FOR DAN FISK 
HHS FOR OGHA--STEIGER AND VALDEZ 
INTERIOR FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS--WASHBURN; FWS, NPS, AND 
NMFS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR MX
SUBJECT: CALDERON NAMES SOCIAL CABINET 
 
REF: MEXICO 6571 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: President-elect Calderon announced his six 
social cabinet selections November 24, saying their overall 
mission would be to "equalize opportunities" for all 
Mexicans.  The appointments include: Josefina Vazquez Mota as 
Secretary of Education; Beatriz Zavala Peniche as Secretary 
 
SIPDIS 
of Social Development; Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada as 
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources; Jose Angel 
 
SIPDIS 
Cordoba Villalobos as Secretary of Health; Alberto Cardenas 
Jimenez as Secretary of Agriculture; and Abelardo Escobar 
Prieto to continue as Secretary of Agrarian Reform. 
Biographies of each Secretary-designate are below. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Transition team member Juan Molinar Horcasitas said 
that security-related cabinet positions, including the 
secretaries of defense, navy, and public security, as well as 
 
SIPDIS 
the attorney general, would be announced Monday, November 27. 
 Calderon announced his economic cabinet selections on 
November 20 (reftel).  End summary. 
 
Josefina Vazquez Mota: Secretary of Public Education (SEP) 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Josefina Vazquez Mota is the first woman ever 
appointed to head the Secretariat of Public Education. 
Considered among Calderon's most trusted and influential 
advisors, she served as his campaign coordinator before going 
on to head transition team negotiations with the PRI, PRD, 
and other parties to garner support for the President-elect's 
proposed coalition government. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Born January 20, 1961 in Mexico City and a former 
resident of the northern state of Chihuahua, Ms. Mota is an 
economist by training.  In 2000, she was elected to the 
Chamber of Deputies, where during her brief tenure she 
distinguished herself as the party's effective deputy 
economic coordinator.  She served as Secretary of Social 
Development in President Fox's cabinet from December 2000 to 
January 2006.  Although a surprise last minute choice for 
Fox's cabinet, over time she gained stature and strengthened 
her position in the administration and in the PAN. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ms. Mota earned her bachelor's degree in economics 
at Iberoamerican University, and has also studied at the 
Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and at 
the Pan-American Institute of Upper-Level Business 
Management.  She has written widely for the Mexican press and 
spoken at numerous conferences in Mexico and abroad.  She 
describes herself as having battled gender discrimination in 
the workplace and throughout her career has displayed a 
particular concern for issues affecting Mexican women.  She 
is married and has three daughters. 
 
Beatriz Zavala Peniche: Secretary of Social Development 
(Sedesol) 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Elected a federal Senator from the Yucatan for the 
2006-2012 term, Secretary of Social Development nominee 
Beatriz Zavala Peniche served as a federal Deputy from 
1997-2000 and again from 2003-2006.  She will need to give up 
her Senate seat in order to serve in the new Cabinet.  Ms. 
Zavala was presidential advisor to the National Council for 
Culture and Arts (CONACULTA) from 2001-2002, and also served 
as a member of her state congress.  In the LIX legislature 
she was President of the Committee on Social Development in 
the Chamber of Deputies.  Ms. Zavala was born on October 23, 
¶1957. 
 
MEXICO 00006604  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) In accepting her appointment, Ms. Zavala said the 
fight against poverty is the responsibility of all Mexicans 
and that they must work together to combat the nation's 
greatest enemies: inequality and extreme poverty.  She 
emphasized that Mexico cannot complete its path to democracy 
without social justice.  She singled out the need to help the 
most vulnerable groups, including the indigenous population, 
women, and others who face discrimination. 
 
Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada: Secretary of Environment and 
Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Mr. Elvira brings a strong environmental and 
political background to his job, but comes from a 
low-visibility position.  A graduate of the National 
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, Cuautitlan Campus) in 
Agricultural Engineering, Juan Elvira completed his master's 
degree in Agricultural Engineering at Cranfield Institute of 
Technology in Bedfordshire, England.  He was president of the 
board of the National Park Barranca del Cupapitzio, State of 
Michoacan, from 1997 to 1998 and president of the 
Municipality of Uruapan, Michoacan, from 1999 to 2001. 
During the last five years, Elvira held various positions at 
the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources 
(SEMARNAT): he was Delegate in Michoacan of the Environmental 
Attorney's Office (PROFEPA) from 2001 to 2003; he was 
Director General of the Primary Sector and Renewable Natural 
Resources in SEMARNAT from 2003 to 2004; Undersecretary for 
Promotion and Environmental Regulation from 2004 to 2005; and 
Deputy Attorney for Industrial Inspection at PROFEPA from 
2005-2006. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Elvira's appointment as Secretary of SEMARNAT is 
surprising, since his name was not in the list of likely 
candidates to head the Secretariat.  A low profile official 
at SEMARNAT, his appointment is positive because of his 
professional background and work experience in different 
areas of the organization.  He is also the second PROFEPA 
official in a row to be elevated to the Secretary's job. 
Elvira worked in President-elect Calderon's home state of 
Michoacan.  While announcing his appointment, Felipe Calderon 
pointed out that Elvira's main challenges are environmental 
conservation under the framework of sustainable development 
and closing the gap between biological richness and the 
poverty of indigenous communities.  Elvira himself said his 
priorities would be forests and sustainable development, 
water (access for all to clean water and proper management of 
the resource), and waste management.  Mr. Elvira was born on 
April 11, 1958, in Mexico City. 
 
Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos: Secretary of Health 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶10. (SBU) President-elect Calderon's selection of Jose Angel 
Cordova Villalobos as Secretary of Health is a sign of 
continuity in the Health Secretariat.  A PAN member, Cordova 
was considered a likely candidate for this position.  In 
announcing his appointment, Calderon instructed Cordova to 
increase health coverage to guarantee access to health 
services to all Mexicans through the Seguro Popular program. 
 
¶11. (SBU) As Chairman of the Health Commission in the Mexican 
59th Congress, Cordova supported Secretary of Health Julio 
Frenk in modifying the General Health Law to include the 
Seguro Popular, a mechanism that provides access to health 
services to Mexicans not covered by public health services. 
Cordova also supported the creation of the Genomic Medicine 
 
MEXICO 00006604  003 OF 004 
 
 
Institute a year ago, the twelfth research institute of the 
Secretariat of Health.  In 2004, Cordova organized a special 
 
SIPDIS 
session for the US-Mexico Border Health Commission in order 
to discuss its role and budgetary situation. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Cordova was born on August 19, 1953.  He graduated 
as a physician from the University of Guanajuato in 1975 and 
completed his master's degree in Public Administration there 
in 2000.  Cordova was professor in the School of Medicine of 
the University of Guanajuato and Director of the same school 
from 1990 to 1997.  He served as editor of the Mexican 
Magazine of Medical Education from 1993 to 1997.  Cordova was 
President of the Commission for Surgical Education of the 
Mexican Association of General Surgery from 1995 to 1996 and 
Vice-President of the Mexican Association of Medical Schools 
and Faculties from 1993 to 1994.  He served as President of 
the General Council of the Electoral Institute of the State 
of Guanajuato from 1997 to 2002.  He was also Chief of the 
Medical Education Division at Los Angeles Hospital in Leon, 
Guanajuato, from 2002 to 2003.  Cordova chaired the Health 
Commission of the Chamber of Deputies from 2004 to 2006 as a 
federal Deputy from the National Action Party representing 
the State of Guanajuato.  In June 2005, the University Paul 
Sabatier of Toulouse, France, awarded him a Doctorate Honoris 
Causa for his activities in the field of medicine. 
 
Alberto Cardenas Jimenez: Secretary of Agriculture (Segarpa) 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Prior to his nomination as Secretary of 
Agriculture, Alberto Cardenas Jimenez served as the President 
of the Senate's Agricultural Commission, having been elected 
to the Senate in July 2006.  In September 2003, President 
Vicente Fox designated Cardenas as Minister of Environment 
and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), from which he resigned in 
2005 to pursue his unsuccessful candidacy for the PAN 
presidential nomination.  Cardenas's government experience is 
considerable.  From April 2002 to the present he was the 
General Director of the National Forest Commission, a 
separate body of the federal government.  From 1995 to 2001, 
Cardenas was Governor of the state of Jalisco.  From 1992 to 
1994 he was president of the city of Ciudad Guzm n in 
Jalisco. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Mr. Cardenas was born on April 4, 1958 in Zapotlan 
el Grande, Jalisco.  His political trajectory occurred inside 
the National Action Party (PAN) while serving as a member of 
the PAN's National Executive Committee and as a member of 
Cuidad Guzman's Board of Directors.  He holds a master's in 
Industrial Engineering from the Technological Institute of 
Cuidad Guzman and a master's and doctorate in Business 
Planning and Industrial Engineering, respectively, from the 
Polytechnic University in Madrid, Spain.  Cardenas's academic 
experience also includes a position as Coordinator and 
Division Head of Advanced Studies and the Technological 
Institute in Cuidad Guzman.  He has given masters levels 
classes there and at the University of Coliman in economics 
and finance.  Cardenas is married to Mrs. Joann Novoa 
Mossberger and has three sons. 
 
Abelardo Escobar Prieto: Secretary of Agrarian Reform 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) Abelardo Escobar Prieto was asked by 
President-elect Calderon to continue as Secretary of Agrarian 
Reform.  Prior to being named Secretary of Agrarian Reform by 
President Fox in April of 2006, he served as the Director of 
the National Agrarian Registration. 
 
 
MEXICO 00006604  004 OF 004 
 
 
¶16. (SBU) Escobar Prieto is an agronomist from the Escuela 
Superior de Agricultura "Hermonos Escobar" (ESAHE) located in 
Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua, where he served as an educator for 
twenty years.  During his long political, professional, and 
academic career, he has served as General Director of his 
alma mater, representative of ESAHE in the Constituent 
Assembly of the Mexican Association of Upper Agricultural 
Education, and from 2000-2003 as a federal Deputy serving on 
the Commissions of Budget and Public Accounts, Estate and 
Public Credit, Rural Development and, for some months, the 
Special Commission of Stockbreeding. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity 
GARZA