President Enrique Peña Nieto signed today the decree amending, adding to and repealing various parts of the Mexican Foreign Service Law (SEM). The amendments strengthen Mexican diplomacy, ensuring that Mexico's foreign policy continues to be implemented effectively.
Enactment of these modifications will give Mexico a more modern Foreign Service that is better suited to the challenges it faces on the international stage.
The changes focus on the three stages of a diplomat's career: admission, professional development and retirement. The main changes include steps to encourage women to enter the SEM; more assistance for those who face adverse conditions abroad, especially when there is a disabled economic dependent facing difficulties; and a new retirement scheme that provides a dignified retirement to those who have dedicated their lives to serving Mexico.
The Mexican government again thanks the Senate and Chamber of Deputies for their commitment and for unanimously passing in both houses the draft decree signed today by the President that started with an initiative promoted by 61 Senators from all the political forces represented there.
During the signing ceremony, the President named former Foreign Secretary Bernardo Sepúlveda Amor as Ambassador Emeritus in recognition of his invaluable contributions to Mexico's foreign policy and to international law.
His strategic and principled thinking shaped his tenure as Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1982-1988) and Ambassador of Mexico to the United States (1982) and the United Kingdom (1989-1993). His contributions as a member of the UN International Law Commission (1997-2005) laid the foundations for his election as judge, and then as vice-president, of the International Court of Justice (2006-2015).
His foreign policy legacy includes his outstanding efforts to bring peace to Central America as one of the main architects of the Contadora Group, which earned him the Prince of Asturias Prize (1984).
Lastly, President Peña Nieto signed an agreement making November 8 the "Day of the Mexican Diplomat," an annual event to recognize the invaluable work done daily by the men and women abroad who join the Mexican diplomatic corps with the sole purpose of representing Mexico with great commitment, loyalty, responsibility, a high degree of professionalism and pride.
November 8, 1821 is the day on which the Ministry of State and the Office of Domestic and Foreign Affairs, the predecesor of the current Foreign Ministry, was established.
