Political Alternation and Elite Recruitment in Veracruz: Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares’ Cabinet (2016-2018)

The aim of this article is to describe the reconfiguration of the Veracruz ruling elite between 2016 and 2018. This stage corresponds to the governorship of Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares, the first governor who did not belong to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (pri). This is a qualitative study that identifies the patterns of elite recruitment. At the national level, pan governments had radicalized a process of technocratization that had already begun under pri rule. At the same time, pan governments reproduced the patronage practices characteristic of the Mexican political system, raising questions about the quality and effectiveness of a political change that was restricted to the establishment of competitive elections and political parties. The formation of the first post-pri government in Veracruz revealed the continuities of said state policy, both from the point of view of elite trajectories and practices. I show that there was no notable qualitative change in the technocratization of the government elite.