Higinio Martínez Takes Senate Presidency as Governing Bloc Cheers “President!”

Higinio Martínez Miranda took over Mexico’s Senate presidency after winning the backing of 116 of the 117 lawmakers present, prompting governing-party senators to chant “President!” three times.

The Senate approved the new governing board almost unanimously. It will include three vice presidents: Verónica Camino Farjat of Morena, Mauricio Vila Dosal of the National Action Party, and Jorge Carlos Ramírez Marín of the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico.

The chamber also elected eight secretaries. Morena will hold three seats through María Martina Kantún Can, Simey Olvera Bautista and Alejandra Berenice Arias Trevilla. Claudia Edith Anaya Mota will represent the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Lizeth Sánchez García the Labor Party, Gina Geraldina Campuzano González the National Action Party, Juanita Guerra Mena the Ecologist Green Party, and Néstor Camarillo Medina Citizens’ Movement.

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President! President! President!

Before the new board took office, lawmakers from all parliamentary groups recognized outgoing president Laura Itzel Castillo Juárez for what they described as impartial, tolerant and institutional leadership. Castillo attended the session in a wheelchair while recovering from surgery for a fractured ankle.

Castillo will become head of the Secretariat for Women on Sept. 3. In thanking senators for their support, she said the chamber had approved eight constitutional reforms during her year in office, including reforms that allowed Congress to issue general laws addressing femicide and extortion.

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During this year, we approved eight constitutional reforms, including those that allowed the Union Congress to issue general laws to combat femicide and extortion.