Secretariat of National Defense

Role

Under the Federal Public Administration Act (Ley Orgánica de la Administración Pública Federal), the Secretary has the following duties:

• Organize and administer affairs of the Army, Air Force and the National Guard and assist in its functions.
• Organize and assist in development and enforcement of National Military Service for the Army and Air Force.
• Management of the Army, Air Force, National Guard and armed contingents which don't belong to state's national guard or law enforcement agencies.
• Plan, direct and handle mobilization of the country in the event of war; formulating and executing, in due case, plans and orders necessary for national defense purposes, as well as directing and advising civil defense.
• Construct and prepare every kind of military buildings for Army and Air Force use, including forts and barracks, as well as administration of barracks, hospitals and other military buildings.
• Administer military justice.
• Acquire and build armaments, ammunition, and all kinds of materials and elements for the use of Army and Air Force.
• Grant permission for an expedition force to enter another country or to allow another country to send their forces to Mexico.
• Manage the issuing of licenses to bear firearms with the aim of preventing the use of arms expressly banned in law and also those types of arms restricted by the state for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy and National Guard, with the exception of what is established by the 13th section of Article 30 of the Constitution, as well as the supervision and issuing of permits for the sale, transport and storage of firearms, chemical weapons, explosives and strategic weapons.

List of secretaries

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	President
1	Lázaro Cárdenas del Río
2	Lázaro Cárdenas del Río
3	Lázaro Cárdenas del Río
4	Lázaro Cárdenas del Río
5		Castro, JesúsJesús Agustín Castro [es] (1891–1975)	1 December 1940	31 August 1942	1 year, 273 days	Camacho, ManuelManuel Ávila Camacho
6		Castro, JesúsGeneral de División Lázaro Cárdenas (1895–1970)	1 September 1942	31 August 1945	2 years, 364 days	Camacho, ManuelManuel Ávila Camacho
7	Francisco L. Urquizo (1891–1969)	1 September 1945	30 November 1946	1 year, 90 days	Camacho, ManuelManuel Ávila Camacho
8		Urquizo, FranciscoGilberto R. Limón [es] (1891–1988)	1 December 1946	30 November 1952	5 years, 365 days	Alemán, MiguelMiguel Alemán
9		Ramos, MatiasGeneral de División Matías Ramos [es] (1891–1962)	1 December 1952	30 November 1958	5 years, 365 days	Cortines, AdolfoAdolfo Ruiz Cortines
10		Olachea, AgustínGeneral de División Agustín Olachea (1890–1974)	1 December 1958	30 November 1964	5 years, 365 days	Mateos, AdolfoAdolfo López Mateos
11		Barragan, MarcelinoGeneral de División Marcelino García Barragan [es] (1895–1979)	1 December 1964	30 November 1970	5 years, 364 days	Ordaz, GustavoGustavo Díaz Ordaz
12	Luis Echeverría Álvarez
13		López, FélixGeneral de División Félix Galván López [es] (1913–1988)	1 December 1976	30 November 1982	5 years, 364 days	Portillo, JoséJosé López Portillo
14	Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado
15		Gardoqui, JuanGeneral de División Antonio Riviello Bazán [es] (1926–2017)	1 December 1988	30 November 1994	6 years, 0 days	Gortari, CarlosCarlos Salinas de Gortari
16	Ernesto Zedillo
17		Vega, GerardoGeneral de División Gerardo Clemente Vega (1940–2022)	1 December 2000	30 November 2006	6 years, 0 days	Fox, VicenteVicente Fox
18		Galván, GuillermoGeneral de División Guillermo Galván Galván[4] (born 1943)	1 December 2006	30 November 2012	6 years, 0 days	Calderón, FelipeFelipe Calderón
19	Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda (born 1948)	1 December 2012	30 November 2018	6 years, 0 days	Nieto, Enrique PeñaEnrique Peña Nieto
20		Sandoval González, Luis CresencioGeneral de División Luis Cresencio Sandoval (born 1960) [5]	1 December 2018	Incumbent	5 years, 142 days	López Obrador, Andrés ManuelAndrés Manuel López Obrador

See also