Ebrard capitalizes on the arrival of the vaccine and reinforces its influence

Marcelo Ebrard, during a press conference at the National Palace / Pedro Martin González Castillo / Getty

At the end of October, when Andrés Manuel López Obrador was looking for a replacement to head the Secretary of Security, the name of Marcelo Ebrard sounded again in the corridors of the National Palace.

In the two years of his six-year term, the Chancellor has become the strongest figure in the Cabinet, a sort of de facto vice president, expanding his area of ​​influence beyond foreign relations.

A growing presence that does not stop raising blisters among a sector of the Government, perhaps the most ideological, that sees in Ebrard's movements a personal ambition in the face of a hypothetical presidential succession within four years.

The change of chair meant the fall of Ebrard from the diplomatic throne to go down into the mud of public security, one of Mexico's black holes.

His possible appointment was interpreted as a kind of poisoned gift, a stick in the wheel in his career within the Government due to the wear and tear that the new position would entail.

Finally, the one chosen was Rosa Icela Rodríguez, a subordinate of Ebrard during her time at the head of the capital government.

The foreign minister maintained his position and from there he has continued to increase his visibility and influence, capitalizing on the latest milestones in Mexican politics.

This Wednesday, the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer, signed contracts with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer for the manufacture and supply of vaccines against covid-19.

Even before the announcement by the Ministry of Health, Ebrard took the initiative by making the agreement public through his social networks and leaving a message to the health regulators, those in charge of the definitive validation: "The vaccination is about to start in December 2020. In Mexico the regulatory authority already has the corresponding request ”.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, in April, López Obrador instructed the Foreign Minister to take charge of the more political facet of the crisis, leaving the health aspect to the team of the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López Gatell.

The relationship has had frictions, caused to a great extent by the different rhythms in each of the dependencies.

“Ebrard understood very quickly the political importance of getting vaccines as soon as possible.

You have been negotiating with Russian, Chinese or American companies.

And it has been insisting on speeding up processes.

While in Health they are being more cautious ”, explain sources from the Foreign Ministry.

It is not the first time that the intervention of the Foreign Secretary tightens the rope within the Administration.

Last year, Ebrard was in charge of leading the negotiation of the migration agreement with Donald Trump amid the difficult diplomatic crisis with the United States, which threatened to impose harsh tariffs.

Its omnipresence cornered on the way other government officials such as the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, on whom migration powers depend organically, or Security, responsible for the civil command of the National Guard, deployed on the border at the orders by Ebrard.

Internal discrepancies even led to the departure of the head of the National Migration Institute.

And barely a month after the crisis was put down, the president consolidated by decree the total delivery of immigration policy to the Chancellery.

"The position does not matter, but the order"

True to his intuitive and personalist style of government, one of López Obrador's favorite sayings is: "The position does not matter, but the commission."

Many find there part of the keys to the chancellor's rise.

“Ebrard has been fulfilling the tasks assigned to him by the president.

And he has done well.

That, of course, has aroused certain concerns and criticism.

But we had a very big threat to the economy ”, points out Martha Lucía Mícher Camarena, senator from Morena and a senior official during Ebrard's term as head of government of Mexico City.

Another recent confirmation of the achievements made by the Foreign Ministry was the unusual negotiation with the United States regarding the former Secretary of Defense Salvador Cienfuegos.

Arrested on October 15 in Los Angeles accused of drug trafficking and money laundering, the diplomatic machinery undertook an unprecedented crusade to bring the general back to Mexico, brandishing a serious violation of bilateral security agreements due to the lack of communication and activity. unilateralism of the US authorities.

"This type of negotiations would hardly have taken place with the governments of Peña Nieto or Calderón, more accustomed to assuming a subordinate position in the bilateral relationship," says Eunice Rendón, an expert on security and migration.

“Perhaps the lack of experience of this government in some issues was positive.

The usual diplomatic channels were not followed and the demands of Mexico caused confusion in the US Ebrard has remained a great negotiator, who has been capable, with discretion and ability to bend his hand to the DEA ”.

A second vector to explain the relevance of the chancellor is loyalty, one of the values ​​that the president gives the most importance.

The two have shared their political careers for decades.

Ebrard was the head of security for López Obrador during his tenure at the head of Mexico City, until he succeeded him as head of government in the capital in 2006. The current foreign minister did not hesitate to get on Morena's boat after the call of his founder.

Earlier, he had given another show of loyalty.

In 2012, with the inertia of his good image as a capital chief, he chose to run as a candidate for the presidency by the PRD.

In the internal election, he lost by one foot to López Obrador.

He instantly accepted defeat and joined the project of which he had already been his boss.

Ebrard's environment prefers not to talk about the future path towards a possible presidential candidacy for the moment.

This time, succeeding López Obrador.

For now, the internal struggle unleashed in the fall within Morena and which concluded with the election of Mario Delgado as party president, opens the doors a little more to the current chancellor.

Delgado's triumph supposes the victory of the most pragmatic sector, where Ebrard also fits within the party.

In addition to the ideological harmony, the new president also worked under Ebrard in the old DF