Mexico foreign minister takes new post, may augur presidency bid

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday shifted Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade into a key ministry in a cabinet reshuffle that could provide Meade with a platform to mount a presidential bid in 2018.

Meade, 46, served as finance and energy minister in the previous government and could be an alternative candidate to the man currently expected to lead the ruling party's campaign to replace Peña Nieto in 2018, Manlio Fabio Beltrones.

Meade moves to the Social Development Ministry, an arm of government seen by political insiders as a useful springboard for presidential tilts. The ministry handles welfare spending across Mexico, where about half the population lives in poverty.

He will be replaced as foreign minister by Claudia Ruiz Massieu, previously the tourism minister.

Meade later deflected a question about whether his appointment could push him toward the presidency.

"We're focused on meeting (our) commitments every day, on Friday, tomorrow, this evening," he told Mexican radio.