Mónica Rosa Irene Palencia Núñez is a lawyer who was born in Mexico and she emigrated as an adult to Ecuador. She became the

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ian Minister of the Interior and a citizen of Ecuador in 2023.

Life

Mónica Rosa Irene Palencia Núñez was born in Mexico in

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

. Her father, Héctor Alfredo Palencia Alonso, was a lawyer. He directed the Institute of Culture of the State of Durango. She was an alumnus of Durango's Juárez University after she graduated with a law degree. She lived in Durango until she was 21. She then emigrated to Ecuador where she continued her education in Guayaquil where she obtained a masters degree. left, New President Daniel Noboa with his new minister, 23 November 2023 She had lived in Ecuador "for more than forty years" and she became a citizen of Ecuador in 2023 "minutes before" she joined the government. On 23 November she was chosen by the new President,

Daniel Noboa Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín ( ; ; born30 November 1987) is an Ecuadorian politician and businessman serving as the 48th and current president of Ecuador since 2023. Having first taken office at the age of 35, he is the second-youngest pr ...

, to become a government minister. She became the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Government. Fellow ministers in the new government included Yvonne Nunez, Zaida Rovira, Arianna Tanca, Sonsoles Garcia, Romina Muñoz and

Gabriela Sommerfeld María Gabriela Sommerfeld Rosero became the Ecuadorian foreign minister in 2023. She led tourism for Quito, and had been the CEO of multiple airlines and a leading hotel. Life Sommerfeld was educated at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito an ...

. In April 2024 she was confirmed as the Minister of the Interior but Michele Sensi Contugi took her role as the Minister for Government. One of her ministerial trips was back to Mexico where she spoke of the new Ecuadorian President's regard for democracy. A disgraced ex-vice President of Ecuador,

Jorge Glas Jorge David Glas Espinel (; born 13 September 1969) is an Ecuadorian politician and electrical engineer. He served as Vice President of Ecuador from 24 May 2013 to 13 December 2017. Then Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno suspended Glas of his ...

, who had asylum, was sheltering from justice inside the Mexican embassy. He was arrested by force by police without the permission of Mexico. Palencia was allegedly involved in ordering the arrest within the Mexican embassy. The President of Mexico,

López Obrador López or Lopez is a surname of Spanish origin. It was originally a patronymic, meaning "Son of Lope", ''Lope'' itself being a Spanish given name deriving from Latin ''lupus'', meaning "wolf". Its Portuguese and Galician equivalent is '' Lopes' ...

, complained about the infringement of international law and broke off diplomatic relations but he said that he would not be labelling Palencia a traitor. Palencia faced impeachment over her role in the arrest of a disgraced politician inside the Mexican Embassy. Independent assembly member

Lucía Posso Lucía Posso Naranjo (born 8 August, 1980) is an Ecuadorian politician who is a member of Ecuador's National Assembly for the province of Imbabura. She has been an Independent politician. Life Her education was at the Pensionado Atahualpa School ...

noted that the law was being used to control politicians but ministers must face that this was necessary as the executive must "be accountable to the Plenary". On 3 September the assembly carried a resolution that delayed the impeachment of Palencia. There was a referendum in Ecuador on 21 April 2024 and the day after President Nobea replaced part of Palencia's role with Michel Sensi Contugi as Minister of Government. The next day he changed the Minister of Education too. Alegría Crespo was appointed on 22 April 2024 to replace Daniel Calderón.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palencia, Monica Living people People from Durango Ecuadorian politicians Government ministers of Ecuador 1960s births Mexican lawyers