Ariadna Montiel was anointed this Sunday as the new national president of Morena. In the morning, the former Secretary of Welfare arrived at the National Congress of her party as just another member, and in just one hour, the 1,830 congressmen present named her first as a national councilor of the party and later as president of the National Executive Committee. The procedure confirming Morena’s takeover by President Claudia Sheinbaum has been completed as scheduled, and a new party Finance Secretary has also been elected: Óscar del Cueto García, former head of the Interinstitutional Liaison Unit of the Welfare Secretariat.
Read more Who chooses the novice bullfighters in Las Ventas?
In her first message to the membership, Montiel warned that the new leadership will not tolerate corruption nor promote candidacies of people with records stained by dubious backgrounds. “This leadership will not tolerate corruption in any Morena government; it is time to raise awareness,” she said, before pointing out that if someone has corruption cases, they will not be a candidate, even if they win the polls to be held this year to define the coordinators of the defense of the transformation.
Montiel called for unity within the party-movement and urged full support for President Claudia Sheinbaum in a complex international context. Montiel said the right attacks the government led by Sheinbaum to encourage U.S. interventionism in the country, and briefly mentioned “recent events,” clearly referring to investigations initiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office against the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, who has just requested leave from office. “We are always on the side of justice and honesty, but we reject the hypocrisy of those who make accusations to open the door to foreign interventionism,” she said.
Without surprises, Morena’s National Congress bid farewell to its now former president, Luisa María Alcalde, amid cheers and applause, and with the presence of the party’s top leadership: the Head of Government of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, and the 22 governors from Morena, except for Sinaloan Rubén Rocha; the parliamentary coordinators, municipal presidents, and members of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s cabinet. “Change of trench, but never of cause,” said Alcalde, who will take office on Monday as Legal Counsel to the Presidency of the Republic. The former Morena president also took advantage of her last speech before the party to lash out at an opposition that “wants to see Mexico kneeling” and “dedicates itself to spreading lies abroad to promote interference.”
Read more The Civil Guard intercepts a cargo ship in international waters with a gigantic cocaine shipment
Following Alcalde’s farewell was the “deliberation” of the National Congress, which approved in a one-hour session the appointment of Montiel and Cueto as new members of the National Council (an essential procedure to be elected to their new positions); a statutory reform to strengthen the Election Commission; and the election of the new president and her treasurer. All under the watchful eye of Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, who will continue to hold the party’s Organization Secretariat, as his position, like the rest of the members of the Committee elected in 2024, will be renewed until 2027. Unless he resigns, the son of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador will remain one of the key figures in the leadership.
With the changes approved at the National Congress, the predominance of Citlalli Hernández in Morena’s leadership is also confirmed. Amid an internal crisis, the former Secretary of Women was sent by Sheinbaum in March to preside over the National Election Commission, a key body for the designation of candidacies and the construction of electoral alliances with other parties. Together, Montiel and Hernández will have the responsibility of guiding Morena in the 2027 elections, in which the Chamber of Deputies, 17 governorships, and thousands of municipalities and local deputy positions will be renewed.
While Morena congressmen deliberated in a room at the World Trade Center, south of Mexico City, outside the convention center pamphlets and magazines with photos of Ariadna Montiel and Citlalli Hernández were distributed. “They are going for a clean sweep in 2027,” reads the leaflets, as evidence of the responsibility that has fallen on their shoulders and the expectations of their membership.
Read more McLaren tightens the screws on Antonelli, who also wins in Miami
