President of Mexico appoints new Secretary of Economy

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced this Friday that he had chosen the hitherto head of the country’s tax agency to fill the vacancy of Secretary of the Economy. Raquel Buenrostro’s appointment to the post comes a day after Tatiana Clouthier’s emotional resignation.

The appointment of Buenrostro, who has served for more than two decades in dependencies related to taxes, the Treasury and the Economy, was well received by the Business Coordinating Council of Mexico, which said in a statement: “We trust in his ability to pay for economic development of citizens and companies.

However, Clouthier had been considered a liaison with the Mexican business community, a role that looks more difficult for Buenrostro.

While Clouthier has a conservative background and was in touch with northern Mexico’s industrial elite, Buenrostro, as head of the Tax Administration Service, has led a constant and sometimes tense campaign to force companies to pay more taxes.

Clouthier resigned on Thursday with an emotional speech in which he thanked the president but gave no reason for his decision.

In his new position, Buenrostro will face the possible consequences of a series of commercial tensions with the United States. Mexico is currently in a dispute with the United States over plans to favor public utility companies owned by the Mexican state over private and foreign companies.

López Obrador has had persistent difficulties with the business community.

Other cabinet members with business ties have previously resigned, including Alfonso Romo, who was the head of the Office of the President of the Republic, and whom López Obrador had described as his government’s main link with businessmen.

Carlos Urzúa resigned as Secretary of the Treasury in 2019.

López Obrador has enacted policies to raise the minimum wage and promote the kind of large state-owned companies that his predecessors had scaled back.

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