On June 2, Mexico send millions of voters to the polls in a historic election. Although the two frontrunners, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xochitl Galvez, both women, represent opposing political coalitions respectively, the most powerful outcome of the upcoming elections will be a major blow to Mexico’s male-dominated culture. Mexico not only has a long tradition of macho culture, but also of autocratic regimes more focused on controlling the presidential figure than on solving national problems. It is precisely these issues that make the upcoming elections historic, as they concern both global issues such as climate change and systemic practices that have been considered pillars in Mexico since its independence.
One of the main challenges for the next Mexican president will inevitably be linked to the current autocratic government of the charismatic Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (or AMLO, as his supporters call him). AMLO’s government initially aimed to eradicate systemic corruption and organized crime, two sociopolitical problems that have impacted every fabric of Mexican society. Nevertheless, Mexico was recently involved in a scandal due to the shelter offered to Jorge Glas at the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador. Glas faces a sentence of six years in prison for corruption in the Odebrecht affair. Although there is an ongoing debate on this issue, the fact that the Mexican government granted refuge to the former Ecuadorian vice-president constitutes the latest leitmotif of a Mexican government which, for six years, has constantly betrayed its mission of eradication of corruption.
Moreover, AMLO’s six years of rule have embraced the populist wave shaping global politics. AMLO embraced his role as an autocratic leader by focusing more on his now-considered-traditional morning debriefings (or “mañaneras,” as they are called in Mexican Spanish) with the press to speak candidly about national issues, but most of the time. were daily harangues to defend the logic of his government. Many critics and members of the electorate wonder whether the next president will incorporate such daily morning briefings into her agenda, thereby focusing attention solely on the presidential figure, or whether she will move away from this autocratic practice to begin a process of redistribution of presidential media. power at other levels of government.
Not surprisingly, climate change and global warming are among the top issues the new electorate is putting forward, seeking alternative and innovative approaches to Mexico’s systemic problems. Between agricultural devastation and water scarcity, Mexican public opinion is experiencing a clear shift. Younger generations are slowly moving from drug trafficking and national corruption to global ecological crises that also affect a country like Mexico, whose capital is the most populous in North America. Heat and water shortages are already affecting Mexico’s agricultural sector to the crucial point that millions of people are already suffering the consequences.
For example, tomatoes have seen unprecedented price increases due to global warming and organized crime. It is well known that drug cartels charge special fees to keep farm workers ‘safe’ during harvest season. Organized crime has in fact extended its coercive practices to all agricultural sectors of Mexico, to the point that drug cartels are perceived as sine qua non characters of the national economic landscape. While this phenomenon was already a recurring problem under previous regimes, under the AMLO government, this socio-cultural phenomenon acquired the status of systemic. The current regime has implemented relaxed measures against organized crime and has also abandoned the Mexican countryside, leaving it in the hands of drug cartels.
Also, Water shortage affects most of Mexico, with the case of Mexico already underlying this phenomenon. Private companies are already working on projects to address the crisis in Mexico City by focusing on urban planning and neighborhood needs. However, overexploitation of the Mexican capital’s main aquifer has caused the city’s infrastructure to sink. Furthermore, overexploitation of aquifers also leads to deeper extractions, which in turn also contribute to the pollution of the city’s aquifer reserves which provide water to Mexico City’s most populated counties. Complaints have been filed regarding polluted water in residential areas And water insecurity in the city’s most populous counties.
However, authorities have not yet determined its cause. This situation has placed the water crisis on the main stage of the presidential debates. Claudia Sheinbaum, who appears to be the favorite to win the presidential election in early June, avoided discussing this environmental and infrastructural issue by suggesting that, despite the shortages, water supply is guaranteed in Mexico City and residents should not worry about it. However, reality already suggests a very different scenario, with scientists and specialists suggesting that “Parts of the city are sinking an average of 10 inches each year, making Mexico City more vulnerable to social risks and the consequences of earthquakes.” Additionally, water authorities and some experts have suggested that Mexico City’s water reservoirs could reach one day of total depletion within the next six years.
Mexico’s political system has for decades left the unfinished business of decentralizing political power and infrastructure development from Mexico City on the back burner. Although other major Mexican cities, such as Monterrey and Guadalajara, have entered the national scene in recent years, Mexico City monopolizes foreign investment, among other financing. Even if foreign financial interests support Mexico City’s entry into the cohort of world capitals, this financial phenomenon only exacerbates the allocation of resources to capital.
Although one of the anthems of the current government has been access to equal opportunities for all, Mexico has nourished cultural nepotism and economic and intellectual segregation as practices accepted and sanctioned at the institutional level. The coming to power of the seemingly new MORENA party has created, from the general public’s perspective, the illusion that Mexican minorities now enjoy greater access to intangible forms of power – thus justifying the popularity of the MORENA party among the most disadvantaged in society. . Yet recent studies suggest that poverty has increased in Mexico over the past six years and that AMLO’s policies hurt the poor the most. Additionally, internal and global migration to Mexico’s major urban spaces also exacerbates xenophobic and populist reactions.
Many of AMLO’s critics emphasize that his “erratic and authoritarian” government has been exacerbated by “overthrowing the institutions that have sustained Mexico’s democratic gains – above all, the country’s independent and admired electoral system.” Many public sectors predict that whatever the outcome of the upcoming elections, the electoral process itself will trigger waves of violence across the country. The preamble to the next electoral journey was determined by a wave of assassinations of several local candidates. So far This year“At least 28 candidates were attacked, and 16 were killed, according to data through April 1 from the research group Data Cívica, a figure expected to surpass even the bloodiest electoral cycles of Mexico’s past.” In this scenario, Mexico appears incapable of orchestrating the full scale of the democratic spectacle that voters expected.
In addition to the challenges mentioned above, the upcoming president will take on the difficult task of making the demands of Mexican women heard. Additionally, amid the historic event of being Mexico’s first female president, she will lead the search for a cohort of new political leaders. This is crucial to enacting statewide measures to effectively combat violence against women and dismantle drug cartels. powerful actors who block democratic deepening. Moreover, the president will be responsible for attracting foreign investment to develop sustainable forms of energy as sources of green energy domestically. Additionally, as Mexico’s economy grows, the next government will need to successfully integrate new generations into a workforce that meets global demands. Finally, the next government will be responsible for designing sustainable responses to global migration to Mexican urban spaces, including preparing shelters to combat this phenomenon through humanitarian and legal strategies.
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