Omar García Harfuch

García Harfuch was born in Cuernavaca, Morelos, in 1982.^[2] He completed a BA in law and public security at the Universidad del Valle de México.

His mother is María Harfuch Hidalgo, an actress and singer known by the stage name María Sorté.^[2] Her surname, "Harfuch", reflects her father's Lebanese ancestry.^[3] His father was Javier García Paniagua, who served as president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)^[2] and Labour Secretary in 1981. His father was accused of participating in repression and torture during the Mexican Dirty War and was head of the Federal Security Directorate (DFS) from 1976 to 1978. García Harfuch's grandfather was General Marcelino García Barragán [es], Secretary of National Defense in 1968, who executed the order for that year's Tlatelolco massacre.^[4]

His career in public service began in 2008 when he joined the Federal Police. In 2012 he was promoted to state coordinator of the Federal Police in Guerrero and, in 2015, to the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Attorney-General's office (FGR).^[4]

On 4 October 2019, he was appointed Chief of Police in the Mexico City government's Secretariat of Citizen Security by Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.^[5] According to The Economist, Harfuch's tenure as Chief of Police was a success, with a 40% reduction in the city's homicide rate.^[2] Sheinbaum and Harfuch increased pay and training for police and purged corrupt officers.^[2]

In September 2023, he joined the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) and announced his plans to seek the party's nomination for the position of head of government of Mexico City.^[8] His primary opponent for the nomination was Clara Brugada, mayor of the borough of Iztapalapa. Polling conducted in October 2023 found him to be the most popular candidate among voters, taking 33% to Brugada's 21%.^[9] Despite winning the internal selection process, his candidacy was set aside in favor of Brugada's because of gender-parity rules.^[1]

García Harfuch sought election to be one of Mexico City's two senators in the 2024 Senate election, occupying the first place on the Sigamos Haciendo Historia coalition's two-name formula alongside Ernestina Godoy Ramos.^[10] The coalition won the election with 54.3% of the vote, assuring Senate seats for the formula's two members.^[11][12] On 5 July 2024, however, president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced that García Harfuch was to serve in her cabinet as secretary of security and civilian protection as of 1 October.^[13] His Senate seat was assumed by his alternate, Francisco Chíguil Figueroa.^[14][15]