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.

Mónica Palencia
Born
NationalityMexican Ecuadorian
Occupationlawyer
Known forEcuador's Minister of the Interior

Life

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Mónica Rosa Irene Palencia Núñez[1] 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.[2] She lived in Durango until she was 21.[2] She then emigrated to Ecuador where she continued her education in Guayaquil where she obtained a masters degree.[3]

 
New President Daniel Noboa with his new minister, 23 November 2023

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.[4] 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, Sonsoles Garcia, Romina Muñoz and Gabriela Sommerfeld.[5] In April 2024 she was confirmed as the Minister of the Interior and Michele Sensi Contugi became the Minister for Government.[4]

One of her ministerial trips was back to Mexico where she spoke of the new Ecuadorian President's regard for democracy.[2] 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.[1]

Palencia faced impeachment over her role in the arrest of a disgraced politician inside the Mexican Embassy. Independent assembly member Lucía Posso noted that the law was being used to control politicians but ministers must face that this was necessary as the executive must "be accountable to the Plenary".[6] On 3 September the assembly carried a resolution that delayed the impeachment of Palencia.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Tensions With Ecuador / Water Protests". Mexico Business. 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  2. ^ a b c "Mónica Palencia estuvo en Durango y dijo que México y Ecuador tenían buena relación". La Silla Rota (in Spanish). 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  3. ^ Durango, El Siglo de (2023-11-24). "Mónica Palencia, la duranguense nombrada Ministra de Gobierno en Ecuador". www.elsiglodedurango.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  4. ^ a b Varas, Eduardo (2023-11-27). "¿Quién es Mónica Palencia, ministra del Interior del gabinete de Noboa?". GK (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  5. ^ OAS (2009-08-01). "OAS - Organization of American States: Democracy for peace, security, and development". www.oas.org. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  6. ^ "Lucía Posso: El Gobierno quiere echar la culpa de todos los problemas a la Asamblea". Teleamazonas (in Spanish). 2024-09-03. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ "Mónica Palencia invita a asambleísta Pamela Aguirre hacer historia en la justicia política, procesal y constitucional". El Universo (in Spanish). 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2024-09-05.