Mexico’s male-dominant society will soon see new changes.
The glass ceiling in politics has been shattered for the first time in Mexico, a country nine times the size of the Korean Peninsula and home to 130 million people.
According to Reuters and media outlets, the Mexican Electoral Commission (INE) officially announced that Claudia Sheinbaum (61), a member of the ruling leftist party National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), won the presidential election on June 2 (local time).
This marks the first time a woman has been elected as president in Mexico since the establishment of the federal government constitution in 1824.
The INE announced that Sheinbaum won the election by outpacing Xochitl Galvez (61), a candidate from the right-wing opposition, with a vote rate of 58.3% to 60.7% compared to Galvez’s 26.6% to 28.6%. The margin of error is ±1.5%.
Local media have hailed the election as historic, noting the significance of a female president being elected earlier than in the United States.
Sheinbaum has pledged to create programs to support women victimized by violence. She stated she would address the prominent issues of drug cartels and gangs by providing education and jobs to prevent teenagers from joining gangs.
She also pledged to improve the information-sharing system between the police and the judiciary and address the root causes of crime through social welfare programs. In Mexico, more than 30,000 murders have occurred annually for five consecutive years, and as of 2022, the total number of missing persons exceeds 100,000.
The presidential election was met with continuous chaos. The general and local elections were held together with gangs targeting polling or campaign sites. Unfortunately, 38 candidates were assassinated during this time.
It is common to hear news of candidates being killed or kidnapped by criminal organizations such as drug cartels during elections in Mexico. The act of killing politicians to protect their interests has become a common practice.
This year, Alfredo Cabrera, a mayoral candidate in Guerrero’s Coyuca de Benitez, was shot dead by an unidentified person during his campaign, and a candidate in Puebla was also shot dead by an unknown person while moving after campaigning.
Meanwhile, Sheinbaum began her political career in 2000 when she was appointed as the Minister of Environment for Mexico City after studying physics and engineering at the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and working as a climatologist.
She served as the city’s Minister of Environment until 2006, followed by serving as the mayor of southern Tlalpan. From 2018 to 2024, she increased her public profile by being elected as the first female mayor of Mexico City.
In Mexico, the president serves a single six-year term. The winner of this election will officially take office on October 1 and will remain in power until 2030.
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