Mónica Palencia

Mónica Rosa Irene Palencia Núñez is a lawyer who was born in Mexico and she emigrated as an adult to Ecuador. She became the Ecuadorian Minister of the Interior and a citizen of Ecuador in 2023.

Life
Mónica Rosa Irene Palencia Núñez was born in Mexico in Durango. Her father, Héctor Alfredo Palencia Alonso, was a lawyer. He directed the Institute of Culture of the State of Durango. She was an alumnus of Durango's Juárez University after she graduated with a law degree. She lived in Durango until she was 21. She then emigrated to Ecuador where she continued her education in Guayaquil where she obtained a masters degree. She had lived in Ecuador "for more than forty years" and she became a citizen of Ecuador in 2023 "minutes before" she joined the government. On 23 November she was chosen by the new President, Daniel Noboa, to become a government minister. She became the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Government. Fellow ministers in the new government included Yvonne Nunez, Zaida Rovira, Arianna Tanca, Romina Muñoz and Gabriela Sommerfeld. In April 2024 she was confirmed as the Minister of the Interior and Michele Sensi Contugi became the Minister for Government.

One of her ministerial trips was back to Mexico where she spoke of the new Ecuadorian President's regard for democracy. A disgraced ex-vice President of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, who had asylum, was sheltering from justice inside the Mexican embassy. He was arrested by force by police without the permission of Mexico. Palencia was allegedly involved in ordering the arrest within the Mexican embassy. The President of Mexico, López Obrador, complained about the infringement of international law and broke off diplomatic relations but he said that he would not be labelling Palencia a traitor.