If one is looking for signs of Claudia Sheinbaum’s talent and craft, the appointment of Marty Batres as the future director of ISSSTE is one of them. And not a trivial one.
The president-elect has a multi-ring circus (if only there were three). And one of the most complicated is appeasing so many colleagues who believe they deserve a medal after June 2.
Long rivers of ink have been written about the juggling act that the winner of a presidential election has to do to accommodate those recommended by the National Palace. And the list is far from over.
But in another group of Chambists (because that is what we have in many of the names of candidates for the cabinet, people who are looking for a bone to pick, not necessarily a commission) are the governors who will hand over their states after the June 2 elections.
And among them is Marty Batres, who couldn’t get to the Secretary of State, who doesn’t expect an embassy, but who has already been seen, to use bad language, building a million-dollar home.
The substitute head of the government will be sent to the ISSSTE. What is the fault of that institution in correcting someone who is far from being a doctor or a public health expert (on the contrary, he had a headache for not taking care of hygiene in another position), I have no idea.
In government and politics, as we already know, we must choose the lesser of two evils: and although it may not seem like it, Marty’s arrival at the prestigious ISSSTE, which has had so many leaderless appointments in this and other six-year terms endured, is the least evil solution.
Because there Marty Batres will have it: under the watchful eye of Claudia Sheinbaum, who wants to advance the promise of building a universal healthcare system, failed so many times in the current administration. Whatever Batres does, the president must deliver results.
Moreover, he would direct an institute with the capacity to keep it running in some managerial way: if IMSS improves, ISSSTE cannot be left behind; if medical supplies are eventually repaired, so too will the institute, staffed by bureaucrats and their families.
Furthermore, and especially after the pandemic and López Obrador’s failed promise to deliver health care “like in Denmark”, ISSSTE and its services are under constant surveillance by citizens and public opinion in general.
Finally, Sheinbaum will place his successor in a highly visible showcase in Mexico City, within a region that will now have a leader with recognized prestige, and with an assignment that can be evaluated by other health institutions and beneficiaries.
The newly elected president’s move is correct because he also avoided the political risk of taking over a very important body in the government structure. Because, according to several versions, the consolation prize that Marty would have liked was Infonawit.
One of the star projects of the next administration is to build one million homes. This promise of the president has its foundation in Infonavit. Giving the workers’ housing institute to Marti would have been handing it over to an urban movement.
It is good that the demand for the rights of popular sectors is now a priority. But for this agenda, which also includes housing, to succeed, technical profiles are needed to solve the enormous financial and logistical challenges.
If there is a replacement at Infonawit, I hope the president will affirm his good judgment. For now, with Marty elsewhere, the institution, which is generally little understood but in many ways vital to workers, has a second chance. And that says a lot today.
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