This Monday, the government will begin the USMCA review in Washington, but as of last week, Marcelo Ebrard achieved a small tactical victory: preventing Francisco Cervantes, former head of the CCE and current advisor to Carlos Slim, from joining the economic team. It was not easy because Cervantes, despite leaving the CCE months ago, still has strong access to Claudia Sheinbaum through his relationship with Slim. The secretary is the one who most carefully safeguards the position of CCE head José Medina Mora in the trilateral agreement talks. On Monday, Medina Mora assured that he is in constant communication with Ebrard. Two weeks ago, it was said in the palace that Cervantes was going to land at the Ministry of Economy as a undersecretary, an idea that Ebrard did not like. The relationship of the Secretary of Economy with the richest man in the country is not bad, but it is distant, something similar to what happens to Ebrard with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the great benefactor of Slim's businesses, who made him the richest, according to official data. At the Ministry of Economy, they understand that there is no good harmony with Slim in the White House, a sentiment that dates back to the beginning of Donald Trump's government, when the owner of Telmex traveled to Washington in search of a photo and returned with the corrosive accusation from Elon Musk on X about the alleged origin of his fortune. Ebrard also understands that he needs to strike a balance because the main tycoons are not entirely comfortable with Slim's and Cervantes' access to the president. A message was sent on the same day that the CCE recognizes the business trajectory of Claudia X. González, nemesis of hard-core 'morenismo'.
