Roberto Velasco Álvarez

Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Chief Officer for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

Roberto Velasco Álvarez (born September 14, 1987) is a Mexican lawyer and politician. He holds a Master's degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Finance from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. In 2013, he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Law from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

During his time in Chicago, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Chicago Policy Review, a magazine published by the Harris School of the University of Chicago. He also worked as a fellow in the office of Rahm Emanuel, then-mayor of the city and former Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama.

Velasco has extensive experience in the Mexican federal, state, and local public sectors. Currently, he is the Chief Officer for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico. Within the Ministry, he oversees foreign policy with the United States of America and Canada, as well as the Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). Previously, he served as the Director-General for Public Affairs, where he coordinated communication between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and national and international press.

Political career

His beginnings as a public official were in the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District. He also has experience in the local administration of Mexico City. In 2017, he collaborated in the North America Regional Direction of the Mexican Government trust that promoted international trade and investment. In 2008, he was the leader of the Youth of the Convergencia Party (now Movimiento Ciudadano) in the Federal District.

After the presidential elections in Mexico, during the month of July 2018, Velasco Álvarez received an invitation from former Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon to support the transition process of the new cabinet. In December of the same year, he was appointed Director-General for Public Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

In 2019, Roberto Velasco was part of the Mexican delegation appointed by President López Obrador to prevent the imposition of tariff rates on Mexican goods, which would have caused a trade war with its most important trading partner, the United States. The then US President, Donald Trump, announced that his government would impose tariff rates on all goods imported from Mexico. The amount would start at 5% and increase to 25% if Mexico did not take measures to curb migrant flows to the US.[1]

In charge of public affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Velasco Álvarez published opinion pieces in media outlets such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and El País, among others. He also coordinated with Canal Once the production of the series "Mexico Abroad" on the foreign policy agenda of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's Government.

In June 2020, Foreign Minister Ebrard appointed Roberto Velasco as General Director for North America, a position in which he led negotiations with the United States to resolve the crisis of shared water management under the Water Treaty signed in 1944 by Mexico and the United States.

Likewise, Velasco was a key figure in ensuring that in July of that same year, the official working visit of President López Obrador to his US counterpart, Donald Trump, took place. The visit focused on celebrating the entry into force of the USMCA, where Mexico and the United States reaffirmed the strategic alliance between both countries.

Subsequently, in December 2020, he was appointed Acting Undersecretary for North America.

In February 2021, Roberto Velasco presented the Work Plan for North America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Senate of the Republic. At the end of his speech, senators from the various parliamentary groups carried out a round of questions. At the end of the question and answer session, he received the support of the President of the Foreign Relations Committee, Héctor Vasconcelos, who stated that "the Senate of the Republic congratulates itself on the meeting held on the plan of activities and responsibilities for North America" and expressed on behalf of the joint committees "their best wishes for the success of the tasks entrusted to Master Velasco."

With the changes made in the Official Gazette of the Federation in June 2021, Velasco Álvarez assumed the position of Chief Officer for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

In charge of Mexico's foreign policy in North America, Roberto Velasco reactivated some of the institutional spaces that had been paused after the administration of President Donald Trump.

First, the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) stands out, headed by US Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, and Secretary Tatiana Clouthier. The HLED seeks to advance strategic economic, social and commercial priorities that are central to spurring regional economic growth, creating jobs, investing in our people and reducing inequalities and poverty in all of its dimensions.

Additionally, he resumed the High-Level Security Dialogue (HLSD) and led the Mexican delegation that negotiated the Bicentennial Framework that replaced the Mérida Initiative. A plan aimed at reducing addictions and homicides, arms trafficking, human and drug trafficking, among other common priority objectives of Mexico and the United States.

Velasco Álvarez was also an important figure in the realization of the 9th North American Leaders' Summit (NALS)[2][3] held on November 18, 2021, in Washington D.C.; Presidents López Obrador and Joe Biden, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, met with the aim of working towards a more prosperous, equal, and secure North America.

Likewise, the Chief Officer for North America worked with Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard to finalize a working visit by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to his US counterpart, Joe Biden, on July 12, 2022. The conversation between the two leaders allowed progress on a wide range of bilateral relationship issues such as border, security, economy, climate change, labor mobility, among others.