Former Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero arrived this Thursday at the Mexican embassy in the United Kingdom, where he faces a trail of complaints and accusations of mismanagement of resources and the relationship with the European country, inherited from his predecessor Josefa González-Blanco. Gertz Manero, 86, landed at the diplomatic mission in London almost three months after being ratified by the Senate for his new position and takes over from a career ambassador who assumed responsibility on an interim basis with the aim of restoring order amid the reported scandals. But in the same week that Gertz Manero was flying to the British capital, a new controversy came to light due to the stay of at least six months of the son of the former foreign minister and current Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, at the diplomatic headquarters with a butler and cook for his care.
“These scandals are the reflection of years of mismanagement,” says a former employee of the representation. González-Blanco’s administration already had at least 16 complaints of workplace harassment and accusations of having damaged diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. The former ambassador definitively left the mission on February 14, despite the fact that the former attorney general had been ratified as the new ambassador by the Senate on January 26, three weeks earlier. President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on February 17 in her morning conference that the former attorney general was already working in London, but in reality, he had only begun to address some matters as ambassador remotely. He flew this Thursday.
According to the Foreign Service Regulations, officials have up to 60 days after receiving the transfer order — which is not the same date they receive their appointment in the Senate — so the former attorney general is within the deadline. Josefa González-Blanco, in 2021, took a month from her ratification to her arrival in London.
At the embassy that now receives Gertz Manero as the new top official, the right hand of the former ambassador, Fernando Gutiérrez Champion, remains, an official who was identified by the 15 testimonies collected by EL PAÍS as the architect, along with Josefa González-Blanco, of the excesses and abuses that occurred within the representation during her administration. Gutiérrez Champion has maintained the rank of counselor, the third highest level. “Patronage appointments can end whenever the Foreign Ministry wants, Fernando’s appointment expires in June, but if the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) wanted, they could have already removed him,” says a source from Foreign Affairs.
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Regarding the complaints filed against González-Blanco, they have been kept confidential for five years by decision of the Ethics Committee and the General Directorate of Human Resources, both units of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. “Confidential information would be revealed, (…) a situation that would translate into a violation of their privacy, prestige, and good name,” they responded to EL PAÍS in response to a transparency information request.
Two days after González-Blanco’s departure, career ambassador Joel Hernández arrived as Chief of Chancellery and assumed the head of the diplomatic mission on an interim basis. According to a source from Foreign Affairs, he received a clear message “to go and restore order.” At least until the arrival of the next head. Hernández’s experience, a jurist and career diplomat since 1992 with ambassador rank since 2008, contrasts with Gertz Manero’s credentials, who arrives in London without experience in the foreign service and five months after his forced departure from the attorney general’s office by presidential decision.
With Hernández, the embassy’s agenda has been reactivated and focused on the bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom. However, the staff remains reduced and worn out as a result of the departure of more than 40 employees during González-Blanco’s administration.
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