For its 30th anniversary, Mexico's televised presidential debate on Sunday, April 7, had a new look with two 61-year-old female candidates in the spotlight. On one side was Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City (2018-2023) and the polls' overwhelming favorite. She sees herself as the heir to the outgoing left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known as "AMLO"). On the other side was senator and businesswoman Xochitl Galvez, representing the right-wing opposition (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, and National Action Party, PAN).
It was not until 2006 that a woman, Patricia Mercado, took part in this event, usually monopolized by men. The National Electoral Institute, in charge of organizing the debate in the run-up to the June 2 vote, put the subject of femicide on the agenda.
Yet the day after the debate, it was undoubtedly feminists who were most disappointed. "The candidates showed their ignorance and scant regard for violence against women," wrote feminist journalism agency Cimac. Sheinbaum greatly exaggerated her record on the subject as mayor of Mexico City, while her opponent, Galvez, proposed creating shelters, which already exist in the country.
Above all, the televised debate gave rise to personal attacks, relegating policy proposals to the background. For example, the senator criticized her competitor from the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), AMLO's party, in power since 2018, by saying, "Claudia, you're cold. You have no heart. You're a real ice lady."
Currently trailing by more than 20 points in the polls, the opposition candidate chose to adopt an offensive strategy to keep herself in the game. To this end, Galvez repeatedly evoked the two tragedies that have marked Sheinbaum's political career, accusing her of criminal negligence: the collapse of a middle school during the 2017 earthquake, which resulted in 19 deaths, and the collapse of a metro viaduct in 2021 that led to 26 fatalities.
"It's distressing to profit from victims' pain," replied the former mayor, who countered by highlighting allegations of corruption in companies owned by the senator. Rather than calling her rival by her first name, Sheinbaum referred to her as the "PRIAN candidate," merging PRI and PAN – the two political parties that have historically ruled Mexico and are now united against Morena. "Today we have an honest president. Never will our opponent be able to say that about PRIAN presidents," she said in response to Galvez's accusations about the supposed corruption of AMLO's sons.
You have 32.15% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.