What about Mexican politics?

[bixaorellana]

Kimby suggested this thread, which was kind and trusting of her, but daunting to me. Mexican politics always have some kind of undertow to them, which I often fail to grasp. Admittedly, that can be said of all politics, but Mexican politics feel like one of those dances where you could never get all the steps.

For the basics, here is an old (2012) link explaining the government: embamex.sre.gob.mx/reinounido/images/stories/PDF/Meet_Mexico/13_meetmexico-government.pdf

What you do not see in the link above is the Morena party, which was only created in 2014.
www.wilsoncenter.org/article/movimiento-de-regeneracion-nacional-morena-explainer#:~:text=Not%20only%20does%20AMLO%20continue,races%20in%20which%20it%20competed.

It is the party of the current president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. It can very much be considered a party of the people, in fact the people who swept "AMLO" into office. The new president of Mexico, who will take office in October, is Claudia Sheinbaum, a longtime adherent of Morena.

[kerouac2]

I wanted a thread about this but did not feel authorised to begin one myself!

I find it interesting that Mexico has elected a Jewish president when that is still super unlikely in the United States (or France).

[bjd]

Not so much that Sheinbaum is Jewish, but that she is a woman! There are so few women in high positions anywhere.

[kerouac2]

There are far more women presidents and prime ministers around the world than Jewish presidents, though. At the moment we have Bangladesh, the Marshall Islands, Barbados, Ethiopia, Georgia, Moldova, Slovakia, Denmark, Greece, Togo, Lithuania, Estonia, Tanzania, Kosovo, Samoa, Honduras, India, Italy, Peru, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Trinidad & Tobago, Latvia, Dominica, Congo D.R., Malta, North Macedonia. Of course, compared to the number of countries in the world, it isn't huge but it is a big improvement in recent years.

[whatagain]

And she is not elderly and has studied and is fighting for the climate.
She seems very similar to Trump…

[bixaorellana]

Jun 5, 2024 4:21:52 GMT kerouac2 said:

Mexico has elected a Jewish president

I don't know how much people here pay attention to that, if at all. The only people who ever brought up Judaism the whole time I lived in Oaxaca were foreigners looking for a synagogue or local Jewish community. I believe there is a small group of Jewish people there now -- from among the foreigners.
I was very surprised here in Coatepec to learn that the people who run the school housing the book exchange where I work are Jewish. There is a mezuzah on the door of building, but no other signs. You all may remember I showed the altar they created for day of the dead.
The whole time I've lived in Mexico, I've never heard Jews or Judaism alluded to in any way, as we might commonly take for granted in other countries. I do remember with a laugh, though, a character in a soap opera I used to watch. It concerned wealthy students at a ritzy high school. One was Jewish & the show featured some of his home life -- a home life with the stereotypes of his doctor father and lawyer mother.

Jun 5, 2024 5:51:08 GMT bjd said:

she is a woman!

...half of all national parliament seats in Mexico and half of the government’s cabinet positions are held by women; ... nine of the country’s 32 [states have] women [governors] source
(more here from the same source)

Sheinbaum was mayor of Mexico city, one of the biggest cities in the world, during the pandemic. Lopez Obrador has been criticized for his cavalier approach to the disease. In contrast, Sheinbaum's approach was strict, practical, and effective.

Much is made in the US press about Mexican attitudes toward women. Since I don't feel the US can pride itself on its view of and treatment of women, it rankles to read those pronouncements by the US press. I like to remind people that a big difference between the US and Mexico is that Mexico created and uses the terms macho and machismo. The hypocritical US had to borrow those terms from its southern neighbor.

[whatagain]

A country that drastically reduces the rights of women by refusing them to be in control of their own bodies by the anti abortion laws and anti abortive pills has no say on how others treat their women.

[kerouac2]

Although I think that most of the written articles gave a relatively good overview of the new president, the main thing that was mentioned over and over on television reports is that there are 10 feminicides every day in Mexico with no mention of anything good that might be happening.

France is obsessed with the number of feminicides, which is of course an important topic, but it does not sum up the overall situation of most countries. However, this statistic is meant to shock us because France finds its own feminicide rate shocking, even though it is "only" one woman every three days.

[bixaorellana]

Exactly. It's something that drives me crazy, not only about the reporting on Mexico, but reporting in general. As journalism, it's very sloppy since it's just a fact regurgitated in order to give the impression that research was carried out & to make the indiscriminate viewer feel smart because he/she already knows these important details about whichever foreign country.

As stated in the OP, the Morena party is very much "of the people". I don't know how much got reported in the international press, but the news photos and videos of his base, and also my own observations, showed that those supporting him came from all walks of life. That of course included the poorer citizens in great numbers. Mexico, despite its long-term rule by the corrupt elite, continuously celebrates the fact that it exists as a country because of two revolutions by the people. I feel it is striking, and something that bears mentioning in news coverage, that a very sleek, sophisticated, and highly educated woman was overwhelmingly voted into the presidency by this popular base.

[Kimby]

Bixa, you went above and beyond! I was only hoping for a thumbs up or thumbs down to Mexico’s new Madam Presidente. Now I know why starting this thread seemed daunting. Well done!
And congrats to Mexicans.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Kimby! As far as "thumbs up", you should know that on election day many Mexicans will proudly hold up their thumbs to show that they've voted. When I left my house on election morning to go to an event in Xalapa, my cab driver (whom I know), showed me his thumb first thing.