A victory that respected the predictions, which extends the party’s dominance by another 6 years Moraine at the top of the pyramid of power in Mexico and which brings for the first time a woman, in 200 years of history, at the helm of the country. The largest elections in Mexican history, with 98.5 million people called to exercise their right to vote, have established (this is what the rapid count tells us which has 95% reliability) that the new president(s) is called Claudia Sheinbaum. Participation estimates are around 58% of those entitled to participate: at 8am Italian time the data left no doubt. With a range of approval between 58.3% and 60.7%, Sheinbaum surpasses the second contender by 30 percentage points, Xóchitl Gálvez with a range of preferences between 26.6% and 28.6%. Far behind the centrist candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez (Movimiento Ciudadano) between 9.9% and 10.8%.
In total, 20,708 institutional positions were voted for, not only for the head of the federal executive, but also for 128 representatives for the Senate of the Republic and 500 for the Chamber of Deputies. Added to these are the governors of nine states: Mexico City, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán. Finally in the case of the capital, Mexico City (CDMX) the roles of the 16 mayors of the territorial demarcations that compose it were also renewed.
Thus ended an electoral campaign marked by violence with 35 people candidates who they were killed precisely because of their political commitment. The last case is the one that concerned Israel Delgado Vera candidate for mayor for the Morena-PT-PVEM coalition, murdered while he was in his home in Cuitzeo (Michoacán) a few hours after the polls opened. The tension marked the messages of the political forces that competed for the new legislature, stoking the flames of confrontation and polarizing the streets. Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador he used what he calls the “Fourth Transformation” (a moment of historical change for the country according to his interpretation) as a flag to counter the traditional parties PRI and PAN, united in Gálvez’s candidacy. The same candidate who, faced with the delay in the announcement of the rapid count by the president of the National Electoral Institute – INE, Guadalupe Taddei Zavala (it was scheduled for 6 am Italian time and took place almost 2 hours later) https://twitter.com/XochitlGalvez/status/1797490908407160904 that an electoral fraud was being “cooked”.
An opposition whose primary objective was to win the electoral rallies in Mexico City (the tendency seems to say that this will not be the case and that Morena won here too), and to prevent the qualified majority in the congress (this will only be known on Wednesday): given that the presidency was seen as out of reach from the beginning.
Regarding human rights, an element that recalls the social reality that has been experienced for decades in Mexico was the initiative “a vote for the disappeared” (a vote for missing persons). Demonstrative action that wants to make visible the plague of missing people in Mexico, a terrifying figure that already exceeds 100 thousand people and which has also forced the UN to send a commission to the area in 2021. Photos of the cards have appeared in some local newspapers ballots of those who took part in this protest, ballots on which the names of missing people were written. Obviously these votes were counted as null but the objective has been achieved, given that we are also talking about it in Italy.
A female president therefore (the first in the history of Mexico), who however will not in itself guarantee gender equality, given that Sheinbaum did not present herself with a declared agenda feminist. This is certainly a strong signal, an image that will convey to Mexican girls that they too can aspire to the highest office in the state, in a country crossed by enormous inequalities, from racism and from a great gender gap. Just think what had happened to the talented indigenous actress Yalitza Aparacio (protagonist of the acclaimed film Rome), denigrated and insulted for her ethnic traits which would prevent her (according to racists) from representing Mexico.
It is very unlikely that next Wednesday, when the data on the conformation of the Congress will be definitively known, Morena will achieve the second great objective: a absolute majority which allows him to plan substantial constitutional reforms. Democracies require good winners but, even more importantly, good losers: Mexico’s nation project of the future will therefore not only be given by the continuity of Morena’s politics (this time with the Sheinbaum brand), but also by how the opposition will know live this dimension to solve urgent problems and structural of an extremely complex country.
A country where cartel violence cannot be the constant excuse for inaction, where it will be necessary to address the issue of migrations (almost forgotten in the electoral campaign), the claims of the indigenous peoples (unheeded in the development of the misnamed Mayan Train), the growing territorial conflicts (almost 500 according to this latest Acled report, concentrated in Chiapas and Oaxaca) and the connivance of law enforcement with crime (including Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador’s new National Guard).
