Socialist MP Susana Sumelzo will be the new Secretary of State for Ibero-America, the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, replacing diplomat Juan Fernández Trigo, Socialist sources confirmed to Europa Press. Sumelzo's appointment is part of the reorganization of the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation at the beginning of the new legislative period, which its head, José Manuel Albares, will represent in the Council of Ministers this Tuesday. Diplomatic sources have confirmed to Europa Press that the minister will complete the changes in the state secretariats with the resignation of the current Foreign Minister Ángeles Moreno and the EU Secretary of State Pascual Navarro from their posts. They have not yet wanted to reveal who their successors will be. Sumelzo has been the first senator and deputy since 2011 and has, among other things, served on the Constitutional and Equal Opportunities Commission. During her last term in office, she was President of the EU Joint Commission and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In the PSOE, she was secretary for local politics of the Federal Executive Commission between 2017 and 2021. Her appointment comes in addition to the appointment of Eva Granados, PSOE spokesperson in the Senate in the last term, as Secretary of State for International Cooperation on December 5, replacing Pilar Cancela, who left the Foreign Ministry to become Secretary of State for Migration. THE FORMER SECRETARIANS WILL GO TO EMBASSIES The minister has already requested approval to fill key positions of the three diplomats abroad. This means that Ángeles Moreno will be the first woman to take over the leadership of the embassy in Washington, while Fernández Trigo will be the new ambassador in Lisbon and Navarro will occupy the embassy in Berlin, according to the specialist publication “The Diplomat”. Moreno has been at the helm of the State Department for five years. Initially with Josep Borrell as minister, she took over the position of undersecretary of the ministry in July 2018. Subsequently, Arancha González Laya appointed her Secretary of State for International Cooperation in February 2020. With the arrival of José Manuel Albares in July 2021, she left this position to become Foreign Minister. Moreno was previously stationed in Russia, Egypt and the United Kingdom, among others, and also worked in the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defense and in Moncloa. Fernández Trigo was also appointed Secretary of State for Latin America in July 2021. Until then, the diplomat was chargé d'affaires in Venezuela – where Spain had lowered the level of representation – and had previously served, among other things, as ambassador to Cuba. For his part, Pascual Navarro was the last foreign minister to join the Albares team, following the dismissal of Juan González-Barba in December 2021. He served, among other things, in the Permanent Mission to the EU in Brussels and was also ambassador to the Czech Republic.
