Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente Resigns — Health Cited, Velasco Named

Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente resigned from his post citing health reasons, representing a significant shift at the top of the Sheinbaum administration's foreign policy team. Roberto Velasco Álvarez, the Foreign Ministry's Head of North America Affairs, was named as replacement pending Senate confirmation. The transition arrives at a highly sensitive moment: USMCA renegotiation talks are scheduled to begin in July 2026, Washington is pressing Mexico on cartel interdiction and fentanyl benchmarks as conditions for tariff relief, and Mexico's recent oil shipments to Cuba have drawn US attention. Velasco's background in North America diplomacy is seen as a signal that Sheinbaum intends to prioritize US-Mexico trade and security relations in the next phase.