“I am stepping down from my current position as Attorney General,” Alejandro Gertz’s letter stated.

The move came just hours after Sheinbaum appeared to criticize the attorney general, by emphasizing a need for “greater coordination” between federal and state prosecutors to combat crime.

Gertz, 86, became Mexico’s first independent attorney general in 2019, for a nine-year term as established by legal reforms passed that year.

In his letter, Gertz said Sheinbaum had offered him an ambassadorship in a “friendly country,” a role that would allow him to continue his “vocation” in public service.

The resignation must be approved by the Senate, which must also vote on a new attorney general from a list of three candidates submitted by the president.

The resignation comes amid reports in local media of growing tensions between the offices of the attorney general and the president over leaks to the press of sensitive information.

The friction reportedly stems from information released by the attorney general’s office regarding a drug and arms trafficking investigation against Mexican businessman Raul Rocha Cantu, co-owner of Miss Universe, following a Mexican woman winning the pageant.