Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Martcelo Ebrard Casaubón. Photo: sre.gob.mx

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Mexican Foreign Relations (SRE) Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón on Monday, July 12, formally announced his intention to run for the candidacy on president in the 2024 elections.

Ebrard made the announcement during a small lunch meeting with a group of his closest collaborators, sparking an immediate rally-like response from the attending supporters

For most Mexicans, the announcement came as no surprise since Ebrard, along with Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, has long been seen as one of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party’s forerunners for the position.

Notwithstanding, both Ebrard and Sheinbaum have had their political images marred in recent months due to the May 3 collapse of Mexico City’s Line 12 of the Metro sytem, which led to the death of 26 people.

The overhead line was constructed during Ebrard’s stint as mayor and linked to suspicious financial dealings (that led to Ebrard fleeing the country for a year immediately after his term in office).

Ebrard has also been criticized for his abrasive and confrontational manner and his often-less-than-diplomatic behavior.

But the foreign relations head brushed off these issues when he announced his bid for the presidency.

“My critics think I’m dead, but they have tried to kill me politically many times,” he said.

Ebrard admitted that he had been “broadsided” by the Metro tragedy, but insisted that he “felt comfortable with the progress of the investigations” into the accident.

Ebrard has been a close friend and political ally of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) since the latter took office in December 2018.