GONZALEZ STEPS DOWN AS UNDERSECRETARY OF

UNCLAS MEXICO 000632 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR KCRM MX SUBJECT: GONZALEZ STEPS DOWN AS UNDERSECRETARY OF GOVERNMENT, REPLACED BY SRE'S GUTIERREZ ¶1. (U) Abraham Gonzalez resigned from his position as Undersecretary of Government (SEGOB) reportedly to make a run for election as a deputy for PAN in Jalisco. Gonzalez had assumed his post as Undersecretary under former Secretary of Government Francisco Ramirez Acuna at the outset of the Calderon administration. ¶2. (U) Gonzalez will be replaced by Geronimo Gutierrez, the Foreign Ministry's (SRE) Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean since December 2006. An economist and a political scientist, Gutierrez holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has held several positions in the Mexican Government since 1992 including SRE's Undersecretary for North America (2003-2006),head of the Planning, Communication and Liaison Unit of the Secretary of Economy (2000-2002),Director of Analysis for the Economic Cabinet of the Presidency of Mexico (1995),and Advisor to the Minister of Finance (1992-1994). Separately, Gutierrez served as the Director General of the Miguel Estrada Iturbide Foundation with the National Action Party (PAN) from 1998-2000 and supported Vicente Fox's presidential election campaign in 2000. ¶3. (SBU) Historically, SEGOB has served as the "power" ministry in the Mexican government, regularly grooming aspirants for the Mexican presidency. Over recent years, however, it has not projected as much influence over competing ministries. SRE contacts could not speak to who might replace Gutierrez as Undersecretary of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs but hinted this move in SRE may be the first of several high level changes to come in the weeks ahead. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / BASSETT