Roberto Velasco Replaces Juan Ramon de la Fuente as Mexican Foreign Minister

The Mexican foreign ministry is the SRE, the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, the Secretariat of Foreign Relations.

The Mexican Foreign Secretary, or Foreign Minister, equivalent to U.S. Secretary of State, is commonly referred to as Canciller (Chancellor).

Until this month, the Mexican Foreign Minister was Juan Ramon de la Fuente. Due to health reasons, De La Fuente stepped down. On April 1st, 2026, President Claudia Sheinbaum nominated his replacement, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, who was ratified by the Senate on April 8th.

Roberto Velasco is 38 years old, born in 1987 in Mexico City. Velasco earned his law degree at the UNAM, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico).

After that, Velasco earned his MPP (Master of Public Policy) at the University of Chicago. While studying in Chicago, Velasco was editor-in-chief of the Chicago Policy Review.

Since 2020, Velasco has coordinated North America policy at the SRE. Velasco is also the first openly homosexual Mexican cabinet minister.

Here is Juan Ramon de la Fuente passing the torch to Roberto Velasco on April 1st.

On April 8th, Velasco was officially ratified by the Mexican Senate, with 81 votes in favor and 31 against.

On April 9th Velasco delivered an address to the SRE department.

Canciller Velasco said that “Foreign Policy is, in its essence, the external expression of a national project. Our task is not limited in representation, we must transform. To translate diplomacy into prosperity for the people of Mexico, in effective protection for those who are far from home, and in tangible opportunities for the development of our country.” [my translation]

Here are photos of Velasco speaking and of his audience at the SRE: