A woman will lead the country for the first time in history. President López Obrador’s successor has won a second term for the National Regeneration Movement and stifled the conservative coalition’s aspirations
A woman will lead the country for the first time in history. President López Obrador’s successor has won a second term for the National Regeneration Movement and stifled the conservative coalition’s aspirations
Mexico has a new president. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, 61, is the firstwoman to win a presidential election in the 200 years since the country’s independence.
It was a historic election day in many ways. With a turnout close to 61%, the successor of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador achieved between 58.6% and 60.7% of the vote, according to the quick count, a mathematical extrapolation based on voting records collected throughout the country that usually yields accurate results. The percentage obtained by Sheinbaum exceeds the 53% achieved by Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2018, quite an achievement for a candidate with less political charisma.
Many questioned whether a sexist country like Mexico was ready to have afemale president. The results at the ballot box proved that it is.
So is that last line meant to drive rage engagement, or are we just not allowed to be happy for Mexico?
The more I've been paying attention to Mexico, the more impressed I've become with them. Yeah, they do have really serious problems, but it's 2023, who doesn't? On the bright side, they're starting to shift left (at least enough to make the investors throw a hissy fit, which we could stand a little more of), they actually have the most sane transit infrastructure in North America on average (emphasizing the average here), and I kinda get the vibe that they're starting to give a lot less of a shit about what the US might think about x thing and starting to do what they think is right.