International

Sheinbaum appoints Lázaro Cárdenas Batel as head of the Presidency’s Office

Lázaro Cárdenas Batel, former coordinator of advisers of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will be the head of the Office of the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum, the future president of Mexico reported on Thursday.

Cárdenas, who was governor of the western state of Michoacán (2002-2008), is the son of the historic Mexican leftist leader Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and grandson of former President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940).

The last to occupy the position of head of office of the presidency was Alfonso Romo, whom Andrés Manuel López Obrador assigned in 2018 and resigned in 2020, leading to the temporary disappearance of this office.

“I deeply appreciate the confidence with which it distinguishes me by inviting me to occupy the position of head of the Office of the Presidency, it will be an honor to closely accompany the first head of state in the history of Mexico,” Cárdenas Batel said during the press conference in which the announcement was made.

He recalled that he has known Sheinbaum for more than three decades, because they coincided in the political struggle as part of the student movement of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1986.

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“I am honored to participate in Dr. Sheinbaum’s team. Surely he will live up to the great responsibility that belongs to him, I have no doubt that the next Government will be consistent with Claudia Sheinbaum’s trajectory and with the causes that she has promoted and defended throughout her life,” he emphasized.

For her part, Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office on October 1, highlighted her confidence in Cárdenas Batel.

“He held the position of governor, deputy, senator and has been in different spaces in international politics, so he will help me to follow up on strategic projects and, at the same time,

talking to many sectors in Mexico and in other parts of the world that may not be able to attend directly as president, but that Lázaro can attend with all the confidence,” he said.

According to the portal of the Government of Mexico, the Office of the Presidency was an administrative area that provided advice, technical support and dispatch of matters to the head of the Executive, “in order to provide elements for decision-making, without prejudice to the powers exercised by the dependencies and entities of the Federal Public Administration within the scope of their respective competences.”

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When López Obrador came to power, in December 2018, he appointed Alfonso Romo Garza as head of the Office of the Presidency; however, two years later the official expressed his desire to leave office and the president said that he would dispense with the instance.

Despite the fact that this Thursday Sheinbaum was expected to announce the heads of the secretariats of Culture, Tourism and Labor, he only made the announcement of Cárdenas Batel, and commented that it will be until next Thursday that he will give the remaining appointments.

International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.