THE FOREIGN SECRETARY INAUGURATES THE GALLERY OF FOREIGN SECRETARIES

Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa inaugurated the Gallery of Foreign Secretaries today. The gallery showcases the portraits of 92 former Foreign Secretaries, from 1821 to 2006. The gallery is located on the third floor of the Tlatelolco Building on Avenida Júarez.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by Foreign Ministry officials, members of the Mexican Foreign Service, former Foreign Secretary Fernando Solana (1988-1994), and the relatives of some former foreign ministers who accompanied Ambassador Espinosa on the inaugural tour. The portraits begin with one of Jose Manuel Herrera, the first Foreign Secretary of Mexico (1821-1823) and ends with Luis Ernesto Derbez (2003-2006) .

The Gallery of Foreign Secretaries was previously located in the former Convent of Santiago de Tlatelolco, in the corridors of the library of the Archives of Diplomatic History. It combines history and aesthetics, and is a visual reminder of the women and men who have been guided Mexico’s foreign relations. They have been politicians, professionals, intellectuals and, above all, citizens with a love for Mexico, said Foreign Secretary Espinosa in her speech.

The works include portraits of 19th-century Foreign Secretaries such as Lucas Alaman; Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada and Melchor Ocampo. There are also portraits of Andres Quintana Roo; Manuel Doblado and 20th-century Foreign Secrtaries such as Genaro Estrada; Emilio Portes Gil; Jaime Torres Bodet; José Gorostiza; Jorge Castañeda y Alvarez de la Rosa; Bernardo Sepulveda Amor and Jose Angel Gurria, the current Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The artists represented include Germán Gedovius, Salvador Martinez Baez, Fernando Leal, Enrique Estrada, Javier de la Garza and Jorge Marin.

The Foreign Ministry’s museum was responsible for the installation of the new gallery and is currently supervising the restoration of its artwork.