MEXICO CITY: Mexico's incoming president Enrique Pena Nieto named his cabinet Friday, picking close advisors for key posts managing the drug war and the economy on the eve of his inauguration.
Pena Nieto takes the oath of office on Saturday, marking the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) after a 12-year absence from the presidency. The PRI ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century.
His 20-member cabinet includes only three women, a few independents from the left and one holdover from the administration of President Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party (PAN).
The cabinet was presented by Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, a 48-year-old former Hidalgo state governor and friend of Pena Nieto's who will become interior minister, one of the most high-profile jobs.
Pena Nieto wants to bestow more powers to the interior ministry, giving it the responsibility of coordinating a drug war that has left more than 60,000 people dead in the last six years.
The congress, however, must still approve changes that will transfer the responsibilities of the public security ministry, including the scandal-plagued federal police, to the interior ministry.
The new finance minister will be Luis Videgaray, a 44-year-old economist who is considered the "brain" of the new president's circle. Videgaray managed Pena Nieto's campaign and headed the transition team.
His tasks will include steering structural reforms that the next president wants to implement in order to boost the economy.
Pena Nieto also decided to bring on board Calderon's finance minister, Jose Antonio Meade, who will become foreign minister, handling ties with the world, especially the United States, Mexico's powerful neighbor and drug war partner.
-AFP/ac
Mexico's incoming president unveils cabinet
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Mexico's incoming president unveils cabinet
