Viewing cable 09MONTERREY371, NUEVO LEON'S NEW CABINET HAS FEW SURPRISES

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2009-10-06 22:31:00
09MONTERREY371
Consulate Monterrey
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
09MONTERREY352
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 MONTERREY 000371 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON EFIN SOCI PINR MX
SUBJECT: NUEVO LEON'S NEW CABINET HAS FEW SURPRISES 
 
REF: A) MONTERREY 352 
 
MONTERREY 00000371 001.2 OF 005 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: New Nuevo Leon Governor Rodrigo Medina 
released the names of his cabinet members on October 3. With 
the exception of his choice for the Secretary of Public 
Security, Medina's choices overwhelmingly reflect continuity 
from the prior administration, which is not surprising given 
that he was his predecessor's - ex Governor Jose Natividad 
Gonzalez Paras'- hand-picked successor. Of the 16 cabinet level 
appointments announced, 11 served in the prior administration: 
one remains in his post, and another 10 are either switching 
seats or assuming higher ranking positions within the new 
administration. 
 
 
 
Secretary General of Government 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) Medina tapped Javier Trevino Cantu, who has worked as 
Vice President of Senior Communication and Corporate Affairs of 
Cemex, Mexico's construction materials giant, since 2001, to be 
his Secretary General of Government. Trevino is a political 
veteran who previously served as former President Ernesto 
Zedillo's Deputy Secretary for Administration at the Treasury 
Department (1998-2000) and as Under-Secretary for International 
Cooperation in the Foreign Ministry (1994-1998). From 1989 to 
1993, Trevino served as a public affairs officer at the Mexican 
Embassy in Washington, D.C. Trevino is a board member of the 
Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute and the Arizona State 
University's North American Center. He also serves as a 
Professor of Monterrey TEC's Graduate School of Public 
Administration (EGAP), is a contributing editorialist to the 
local daily "El Norte," and serves as the Honorary Consul for 
the Republic of Korea to Monterrey. 
 
 
 
Secretary of Finance and Treasury 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Alfredo Garza de la Garza -- Chief Officer of State 
Government for the outgoing administration -- will be the new 
Secretary of Finance and Treasury. Garza has held both elected 
and appointed positions at the state and municipal level. He 
served as the Mayor of the municipality of Linares, and as a 
local representative in the legislature. He was Director of 
Development for Southern Nuevo Leon, and Director of the State 
Program for Business Promotion. He also brings to his current 
post experience as the Comptroller for the City of Monterrey, 
and as Chief Accountant of State Revenue. Garza De La Garza's 
nomination was forwarded to the State Legislature on October 5 
for pro forma confirmation. 
 
 
 
Attorney General 
 
---------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Alejandro Garza y Garza, an Assistant Attorney General 
in the Nuevo Leon Public Ministry in the outgoing administration 
has been nominated to become the state's Attorney General. He 
brings a wealth of experience to the post, having served as 
Director General of Investigation, Director of Expert Services, 
Director of Agents of the Public Ministry, and Agent of the 
Public Ministry in Guadalupe, San Pedro, and Monterrey. In 
September 2006, Garza y Garza's brother -- Marcelo, a 
high-ranking state police official -- was murdered by a hit man 
outside a church in the Monterrey suburb of San Pedro Garza 
Garcia. Garza y Garza's nomination was forwarded to the State 
Legislature on October 5 for pro forma confirmation . 
 
 
 
Secretary of Public Security 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
MONTERREY 00000371 002.2 OF 005 
 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) President of the state Citizen's Council for Public 
Security Carlos Juaregui Hintze takes over from Aldo Fasci 
Zuazua as State Secretary for Public Security. Juaregui, a 
businessman, has also served as president of the Civic Council 
for the Institutions of Nuevo Leon, A.C. (an umbrella NGO 
working on behalf of other NGOs) and as president of the state's 
Review Board for Civil Servant Compensation. Juaregui's 
selection is one of the few surprises among Medina's selections. 
 Public security deteriorated dramatically during Governor 
Gonzalez Paras' tenure, and given the army's relatively strong 
track record in combating organized crime, many analysts had 
expected Governor Medina to name a military officer (either 
active duty or retired) to the position of Secretary of Public 
Security. (Comment: Juaregui has long been an outspoken voice 
for reform who has advocated better police officer vetting. 
During a recent meeting with the Ambassador, he emphasized 
citizen participation in evaluating police chiefs and espoused 
penal reforms aimed at providing prisoners with educational 
opportunities in order to dissuade them from joining the ranks 
of organized crime. Ref A. End comment.) 
 
 
 
Chief of the Executive Office 
 
----------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) Medina tapped SRE Ambassador Carlos Almada, the outgoing 
governor's International Affairs coordinator as Chief of his 
Executive Office for the State of Nuevo Leon. Almada has served 
as Director General of Social Communication and as Spokesperson 
for the President of the Republic during the Zedillo 
Administration. He has also served previously as Chief Officer 
of Government, Chief Officer of the Secretary of Energy, Mines, 
and Parastate Industries, and Secretary of Administration for 
the State of Mexico. Amada said his first task will be to 
ensure that his office is in compliance with the recent 
modifications to the Organic Law passed by the state 
legislature, which realigns areas of responsibilities among the 
state's various agencies. 
 
 
 
Secretary of Education 
 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) rector Jose 
Antonio Gonzalez Trevino, is the new Secretary of Education. 
Gonzalez Trevino has been a professor at the UANL School of 
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (FIME) for 35 years, and 
has held various high-level positions at the university during 
his career. Antonio Gonzalez declares he will maintain and 
extend Nuevo Leon's position as a leader in education by 
improving infrastructure and approaches to education at the 
earliest stages. Specifically, Gonzalez states that he hopes to 
leverage evaluative tools such as ENLACE to identify areas for 
improvement. (Comment: ENLACE is the National Evaluation of 
Academic Success in Educational Centers, a test utilized to 
measure secondary and primary students' ability in Spanish and 
Math. Additionally, one other subject is tested each year; for 
example, in 2009, Civics and Ethics were tested. While Nuevo 
Leon students' ENLACE scores are consistently above the national 
average and rising, some observers note that students need to be 
tested according to a more objective international standard. 
End Comment.) 
 
 
 
Secretary of Health 
 
------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) This position is now occupied by Dr. Jesus Zacarias 
Villarreal Perez, who steps down as Director of Medicine at the 
University Hospital. He previously served as Secretary of 
Health to former Governor Fernando Canales, President of the 
State Council for Medical Services, and Director General for the 
Coordination of Specialized Regional Hospitals. Zacarias 
Villarreal states that his priority is increasing diagnostic 
 
MONTERREY 00000371 003.2 OF 005 
 
 
capabilities dedicated to identifying the H1N1 virus, ensuring 
that one lab is available for each municipality and four for 
each sanitary district. He also emphasizes the need to address 
dengue fever, and supports programs to combat obesity. 
(Comment: Nuevo Leon is divided into four urban and four rural 
sanitary districts. Post has noted media reports of 
insufficient capacity in some of the rural districts, requiring 
patients to travel to urban centers for treatment. End comment.) 
 
 
 
Secretary of Social Development 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) Juana Aurora Cavazos Cavazos, outgoing Subsecretary of 
Human Resources with the Secretary of Education, takes over as 
Secretary of Social Development. In the past, Cavazos has 
served as City Councilwoman for the city of Allende, and as the 
city's mayor. Previously, she has held the post of Federal 
Congresswoman. Cavazos is also the Secretary General of a local 
District Delegation for the National Syndicate of Education 
Employees. 
 
 
 
Secretary of Economic Development 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) Othon Ruiz Montemayor, Secretary of Finance and Treasury 
in the prior administration, has become the Secretary of 
Economic Development. Before entering government service, 
Montemayor worked in finance with the FEMSA group, where he was 
Director of Finances and General Director. He has also served 
as President of the Banker's Association of Mexico, and Director 
General of the Finance Group of Banorte. Montemayor expressed a 
desire to reduce administrative barriers for businesses and 
improve logistics, especially between the urban center of 
Monterrey and developing communities such as Linares, Sabinas 
and Montermorelos where multinationals have established 
production facilities. In 2007, former Governor Gonzalez Paras 
called upon him to rescue the state's flagging organizational 
efforts in support of the International Forum of Cultures held 
in Monterrey that year. 
 
 
 
Secretary of Labor 
 
------------------ 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) The exiting administration's Executive Secretary of the 
Counsel of Coordination for the Integral System of Public 
Security of Neuvo Leon, Alvaro Ibarra Hinojosa, has moved to the 
position of Secretary of Labor. He has previously served as the 
State of Nuevo Leon's Director of the Civil Registry, 
Subsecretary of Political Development and Institutional 
Relations, and Subsecretary of Citizen Service and Religious 
Affairs. 
 
 
 
Secretary of Public Works 
 
------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶12. (U) Lombardo Guajardo Guajardo, who occupied this position 
in the outgoing administration, remains in this position with 
the Medina administration - the only member of the previous 
cabinet to remain in place. Guajardo has twice served as the 
Municipal President of Apodaca, and three times as the Director 
of Public Works for the same city and, most recently; as 
Director General of Water Services and Drainage of Monterrey. 
He is a former federal Congressman. Guajardo's appointment is a 
strong vote of confidence from Governor Medina. 
 
 
 
MONTERREY 00000371 004.2 OF 005 
 
 
 
Secretary of Sustainable Development 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶13. (U) Fernando Gutierrez Moreno, Director of the Institute 
for Environmental Protection of Nuevo Leon, took over as 
Secretary of Sustainable Development. He is also the President 
of the Consultory Council for Sustainable Development and has 
served as Director of Planning and Environmental Development for 
the Secretary of Urban Development. Gutierrez has worked as a 
part-time professor in the state's leading academic 
institutions: the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) 
and the Technological Institute of Monterey (ITESM). 
 
 
 
Comptroller and Secretary of Transparency 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶14. (U) Jorge Manjarrez Rivera, an economist trained at the 
Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon and at the University of 
Colorado, assumes this post. He has served as Secretary of the 
City of Monterrey, the State Secretary of Social Development, 
and the Director General of the State Institute of Housing. 
 
 
 
Legal Counsel to the Governor 
 
----------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶15. (U) Governor Medina chose as his Legal Counsel Hugo 
Alejandro Campos Cantu, Assistant Attorney General Juridical of 
the State Attorney General's Office. Campos Cantu served on the 
outgoing governor's Juridical Council. 
 
 
 
General Director of DIF Nuevo Leon 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶16. (U) Elenitza Canavati Hadjopolus becomes General Director 
of the Integral Development of the Family (DIF) Neuvo Leon. Ms. 
Canavati Hadjopolus has experience working with UNICEF Mexico, 
the Association for Integration and Support for Handicapped 
Persons, and with the Coordination of Volunteers in the DIF of 
Monterrey. 
 
 
 
Secretary of Social Communication 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶17. (U) The Secretary of Social Communication is now Eloy Garza 
Gonzalez, most recently Director of Political Analysis for the 
Secretary of Government. Garza Gonzalez has also worked as the 
Director General of Political Development in the same 
Secretariat. He is a part-time professor in the Department of 
Political Science and Communications of the Autonomous 
University of Nuevo Leon. 
 
 
 
Comment: 
 
-------- 
 
 
 
¶18. (SBU) Despite a public emphasis on the need for a clean 
break from the previous administration, Medina's cabinet choices 
demonstrate a strong affinity for his predecessor's power base, 
 
MONTERREY 00000371 005.2 OF 005 
 
 
if not his policy priorities. Nothing makes this more clear 
than his choice to leave Lombardo Guajardo Guajardo, the 
Secretary of Public Works, in place. This is not only a strong 
endorsement of Guajardo Guajardo, but an affirmation of his 
predecessors emphasis on investment in public infrastructure, 
which has resulted, among other projects, in an extension of 
Monterrey's metro system, the construction of the Park of 
Investigation and Technology Innovation (PIIT), and the 
expansion of Monterrey's "Paseo," a river walk park and tourist 
attraction that now reaches deep into Monterrey's downtown. 
 
 
 
¶19. (SBU) At the other end of the scale is Governor Medina's 
choice of a relatively inexperienced individual - Carlos 
Juaregui Hintze - to occupy the important position of Secretary 
of Public Security. It may be that Medina's surprise choice of 
Jauregui - an administration outsider - belies a greater 
awareness on his part of the threat that security issues pose to 
Nuevo Leon and a desire to placate increasingly vocal civil 
society voices concerned about rising violence, bracketed by the 
conclusion that a fresh approach is needed to reform security 
agencies and battle internal corruption. 
 
 
 
¶20. (SBU) As outgoing Governor Gonzalez Paras has publicly 
acknowledged, the debt burden that he passes to his successor - 
currently measured at greater than 50% of the state's annual 
revenues, a significant premium over the average burden of 17% 
of revenues among all Mexican states - leaves Governor Medina 
less room to maneuver during the next six years. Given Governor 
Medina's overwhelming choice of not only partisans, but 
administration insiders, post foresees few radical departures 
from his predecessor's trajectory outside the realm of security; 
within the realm of security, post is encouraged by the new 
Secretary's intentions to tackle real reform. His key task will 
be to reform and cleanse an entrenched, infiltrated police 
bureaucracy. (Note: More information on the challenges the 
incoming administration faces will follow septel. End note.) 
WILLIAMSONB