Of Giulio Chinappi
from https://giuliochinappi.wordpress.com
The historic and landslide victory of Claudia Sheinbaum, the first female president, and the governing coalition in Mexico will allow the continuation of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s progressive policies, while the right-wing opposition emerges with broken bones from the electoral competition.
The general elections in Mexico, held last June 2, marked both a historic turning point and a continuation of continuity for the country. Mexican citizens have in fact voted to elect a new president, all 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies and all 128 members of the Senate of the Republic. These elections took place at the same time as the state elections, with the role of 9 governors at stake, making the electoral process particularly significant for understanding Mexico’s political future.
Claudia Sheinbaum, exponent of the left-wing political party Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena), has emerged as the main contender to succeed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO), leader of the same Morena party. Sheinbaum obtained the nomination of the governing coalition, Sigamos Haciendo Historiawhich also includes the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM) and the Party of Work (PT) facing Xóchitl Gálvez, candidate of the right-wing coalition, as his main opponent Strength and courage in Mexico. The Citizen Movement (MC), the only national party without a coalition, has instead nominated Jorge Máynez. For the first time in Mexican history, the two main contenders for the presidency were both women, marking a moment of great importance for gender representation in Mexican politics.
As soon as the first results were published, no one had any doubts about the victory of the governing coalition. Claudia Sheinbaum in fact won the presidential elections with an overwhelming margin of over 33 percentage points, becoming the first woman and the first person of Jewish origin to be elected president of Mexico. Her victory recorded the highest number of votes ever obtained by a candidate in Mexican history, surpassing the record of 30.1 million votes obtained by López Obrador in 2018 and reaching 35.9 million preferences. With over 61% of the votes, Sheinbaum obtained a strong and decisive mandate from the Mexican people, in full continuity with the progressive policies put into practice during the two terms of outgoing President AMLO.
The triumph of the governing coalition was also confirmed by the results of the legislative elections, where all three parties that supported Sheinbaum increased their parliamentary representation, despite a parallel decrease in the number of right-wing deputies. In the Chamber of Deputies, Morena elected 248 representatives, the PVEM 75 and the PT 50, for a total of 373 seats out of the 500 available. In the Senate, however, Morena reached 60, with 14 senators from the PVEM and 9 from the PT in support, for a total of 83 out of 128. In both cases, therefore, the government will enjoy a very solid majority during the next mandate .
The landslide victory of Claudia Sheinbaum and the governing coalition immediately sent the Mexican right into a tailspin, which suffered an unprecedented defeat in a country which, before AMLO’s election, had long been governed by liberal and decidedly subservient representatives to the United States. The former centre-right president Vicente Fox (2000-2006), whose mandate is sadly remembered by Mexicans for his hyper-liberal policies, shouted about electoral fraud, arguing that Sheinbaum could not have won by such a large margin, but he was able to bring forward no evidence to support his thesis.
Sheinbaum’s triumph was interpreted by all analysts as a clear signal of the Mexican people’s rejection of neoliberalism and right-wing policies, demonstrating the will on the part of the majority of voters to continue on the path traced to date by the presidency by AMLA. According to economist and academic César Arturo Iglesias, neoliberalism created a classist and xenophobic ideology that sought to dismantle the welfare state, but Sheinbaum’s victory demonstrates that the Mexican people have chosen a more inclusive model of well-being.
In fact, after the victory, Claudia Sheinbaum met with incumbent president López Obrador to discuss the government transition. The two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing the constitutional and social reforms promoted by the current administration. Sheinbaum expressed his intention to continue working for the well-being of the Mexican people, strengthening international relations and promoting inclusive social policies.
The director of Mexico’s Public Broadcasting System, Jenaro Villamil, stressed that disinformation campaigns against Sheinbaum have not been successful. Despite the lies spread by the right, which continues to control a substantial part of the media, the progressive candidate achieved a historic triumph, demonstrating – according to what Vilamil stated – that citizens voted in a conscious and informed way, rejecting the false narratives of violence and electoral fraud.
Even in matters of foreign policy, analysts expect Claudia Sheinbaum to continue AMLO’s line of progressive detachment from the United States to embrace the promotion of multipolarism, which could imply a possible membership of Mexico in the BRICS+. Furthermore, Sheinbaum is expected to maintain close collaboration with other progressive governments on the Latin American continent, particularly Cuba and Venezuela, which aim to cooperate with Mexico and other countries to circumvent US economic sanctions.
To complete the picture of the Mexican elections, at the local level the candidates of the governing coalition obtained seven governorships out of the nine available, including that of the capital with the election of Clara Brugada. Furthermore, the progressive coalition wrested the Yucatán government from the opposition, thanks to the election of Joaquín Díaz Mena. Only the states of Guanajuato and Jalisco therefore escaped Morena and his allies, with victories respectively in National Action Party (PAN), part of the right-wing coalition, and the Citizen Movement.
In conclusion, the 2024 elections have not only brought the first female presidency in the history of Mexico, but have also confirmed a strong popular mandate to continue the transformational path initiated by AMLO. With determined leadership and a clear vision for the future, Claudia Sheinbaum is preparing to lead Mexico to new heights of progress and social justice.
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