Residence Los Pinos Formation 1917 | Term length 6 years | |
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Inaugural holder Virginia Salinas de Carranza | ||
First Lady of Mexico (Spanish: Primera Dama de Mexico, Primera Dama de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is the unofficial title of the wife of the President of Mexico. The post is highly ceremonial and in fact once caused severe controversy when it was thought that the First Lady took too much involvement in their husband's post. Angélica Rivera is the wife of current president Enrique Peña Nieto.
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María Flores de Lascuráin, spouse of President Pedro Lascuráin, was Mexico and the world's briefest ever First Lady, since her husband served as president for less than an hour. However, since the title is not official in Mexico (unlike other Latin American countries), this fact is not actually acknowledged.
Role of the First Lady
The first lady is not an elected position, carries no official duties and brings no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president. There is a strict taboo against the First Lady holding outside employment while occupying the office. Usually the First Lady takes an important (ceremonial) post as head of the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) ("Integral Family Development"). However, this did not occur during the Fox administration when First Lady Marta Sahagún founded the national philanthropic organization Vamos México.
Two First Ladies have been active politicians: Martha Sahagún, who married Vicente Fox during his tenure (2002–2006), had been a party activist and candidate for Presidenta Municipal of Celaya on the PAN party ticket, and was briefly considered a contender for PAN's nomination to run for either the Jefe de Gobernación (Governor of the Federal District) or President in the 2006 election. Margarita Zavala, wife of Felipe Calderón, was a deputy from 2003 to 2006.
First Ladies of Mexico
This is a list of the post-Revolutionary era First Ladies of Mexico.