José Rafael Ojeda Durán (born 3 February 1954) is the Mexican

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

in the Cabinet of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He has worked in the

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

in various positions for 50 years. He is a member of the

Mexican Legion of Honor The modern Mexican Legion of Honor (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Legión de Honor Mexicana'') is an order of merit awarded to soldiers, veterans, and others who have made outstanding contributions to the national defense, security, or sovereign ...

Biography

José Rafael Ojeda Durán was born on 3 February 1954. Joining the

Heroica Escuela Naval Militar The Heroica Escuela Naval Militar is the officer training academy of the Mexican Navy. It began operations on 1 June 1897 with a group of cadets from the Mexican Army's Colegio Militar who had expressed an interest in training as naval office ...

(where he later served as a professor) in 1969, he later graduated as a Guardiamarina (Midshipman) in 1974. In the time after his graduation, he served in the Navy for 50 years on a variety of vessels, commands, and assorted offices. Among these: he led the Eighth Naval Region, Fourteenth Naval Region, Sixth Flotilla,

Pacific Naval Force The Pacific Naval Force ( es, Fuerza Naval del Pacífico) is the Mexican Navy's presence in the Pacific Ocean. Its headquarters is in Manzanillo, Colima. The Pacific Naval Force was created in the same date as its Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea ...

, Chief of Naval Operations, and was a Senior Naval Admiral. Durán was appointed to Secretariat of the Navy under the presidential cabinet of

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who has been serving as the 65th president of Mexico since 1 December 2018. He previously served as Head of Government of Mex ...

, having prior served as a Inspector and General Comptroller of the Navy. He was appointed on 30 November 2018.

Controversy

Durán was criticized for not investigating the

Iguala mass kidnapping On September 26, 2014, forty-three male students disappeared from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College after being forcibly abducted in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. They were allegedly taken into custody by local police officers from Iguala and ...

when it was theorized that the 43 victims were incinerated by sailors operating in the Eighth Naval Region, which he had control over at the time.

Tropical Storm Hernan

In 2020, he announced a so-called 'Naval Plan' to help aid those affected by Tropical Storm Hernan. This program consisted of rescue operations, cleanup, and evacuations, conducted by 450 units of the Mexican Navy.

References

1954 births Living people Morena (political party) politicians 21st-century Mexican politicians Secretaries of the Navy (Mexico) Cabinet of Andrés Manuel López Obrador {{Mexico-politician-NationalRegeneration-stub