Adán Augusto López has tendered his resignation as Mexico’s Secretary of Interior to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, marking his commitment to participate in the upcoming 2024 elections.
During a press conference, the president emphasized that López’s departure was not due to poor performance but to his thorough understanding and involvement in the Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena) project.
While a new Secretary of Interior is being appointed, Alejandro Encinas, the Undersecretary for Human Rights, Population, and Migration, will serve as the acting head of the department, as stated by López Obrador.
Following the announcement, Adán Augusto López shared his resignation letter on social media, highlighting the activities and events that have connected him to the current Mexican president.
On June 13, López requested the president relieve him of his post, aiming to participate in the electoral race.
“I don’t use the word resignation, I have asked the president to relieve me of my duties, and I will likely formally request this on Friday [June 16] morning,” said the former interior policy chief to reporters after an extended cabinet meeting at the National Palace, the presidential residence.
López has held the position since August 2021, succeeding Olga Sánchez Cordero, who assumed the role of the Senate’s majority leader for a year.
López’s political career began with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), also the initial party of López Obrador, in his native oil-producing state of Tabasco in southeast Mexico.