COVID-19 Commission of Inquiry Rejects Appointment of López-Gatell as Representative to the WHO.
In a statement, the appointment was described as “unprecedented” and “nonexistent within Mexico’s formal diplomatic representation.”
The Independent Commission of Inquiry into the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico rejected on Wednesday, July 2, the appointment of Hugo López-Gatell as representative to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a statement, the commission described the appointment as “unprecedented” and “nonexistent within Mexico’s formal diplomatic representation.”
The group of investigators noted that during the pandemic, they documented “serious omissions and decisions that contributed to Mexico registering the fourth highest level of excess mortality in the world,” according to WHO figures.
If Hugo López-Gatell is not Mexico’s official representative to the WHO, then what will he do in Geneva?
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced last Monday that she personally appointed Hugo López-Gatell as Mexico’s representative to the World Health Organization (WHO), but that position is held by Francisca Méndez, ambassador of the Mexican Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, including the public health agency.
A source from the Mexican Foreign Service explained that Hugo López-Gatell will have a technical role with the rank of minister, hierarchically below the Permanent Representative, Francisca Méndez, and the Alternate Permanent Representative, Fernando Espinosa, who holds the rank of minister but represents Mexico before all international organizations in Switzerland.
Source: Latinus
