Morena’s candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, concluded her campaign for the presidency of Mexico this Wednesday, before thousands of followers gathered in the Zócalo of Mexico City, the most important public square in the country. In an armed pavilion behind the National Palace, the official residence, Sheinbaum has made his last campaign promise, with the June 2 elections knocking at the door: “I commit to you to preserve the legacy of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador “, he said before the crowds, who responded with the war anthem that has distinguished the movement founded by the current outgoing president: “It is an honor to be with Obrador!” The former head of government of the capital had already spurred the spirits of the Morenista bases moments before, by referring to the leftist leader as “the best president in history.” “And from here we tell you, dear president, it is an honor to be with Obrador!” Sheinbaum cried. From the audience, the chorus rose and the cherry flags were waved: the Obradorist bases came from all corners to support López Obrador’s successor.
The allusions to the founder of Morena are necessary for a movement that shares its identity and political goals with the charismatic figure of López Obrador. In a message that at times seemed more like that of an elected president than that of a candidate, Sheinbaum pledged to be “a good president”; her to govern “without distinction” for everyone, including her detractors; to respect difference of thought and dissent and not to repress protest; to “govern with humility and deep responsibility,” and to deliver her “soul and life” and “the best of herself” to the function of government. “I’m not going to let you down,” she offered. The candidate also defended the democratic nature of the movement that in 2018 brought the left to the presidency and that has now supported her. “Our project defends democracy, freedoms, truth and the dignity of people. I say this because the adversaries, the opposition and its intellectuals, have argued that democracy or authoritarianism is at stake in this election,” she said. “What they do not understand, and we must insist so that there is no confusion, is that democracy has always been our flag and our way of acting, and that authoritarianism is precisely their history and characteristic, of PRIAN. “The defense of democracy has never been a demand of the right.”
Sheinbaum got out of her vehicle a few streets before reaching the Zócalo and started walking to take a mass bath, as López Obrador usually does and as she herself has done throughout the three months that the presidential campaign has lasted. On the way, enduring the pushes of the cherry tide, she greeted people and took selfies. When crossing the Zócalo she mixed with the Pemex unionists and the miners; with the merchant groups of the capital; with agricultural organizations; with the PT and Verde militants — allies of Morena —; with the teachers of the dissident union (the CNTE) who held a sit-in in the Zócalo that marked a contrast with the festive atmosphere of the Morenistas; She crossed paths with the peasants, the elderly, the young people brought from the rural towns. Campaign posters were distributed at the event. A cardboard that simulated the presidential sash had the legend inscribed: “We are all here,” one of Sheinbaum’s slogans, on her way to becoming the first woman to assume the presidency of Mexico.
María Reyna Bernal, 64 years old and who has come from Michoacán, is wearing that clothing. What does that feminist phrase mean to her? “I have daughters and granddaughters. One of my granddaughters is 12 years old and she tells me: ‘When I grow up, I am going to help my country.’ And she says it because she has seen that Claudia and López Obrador are the best leaders Mexico has ever had,” she says. Sheinbaum has echoed in his speech the historical feat that it means for a woman to govern Mexico. “For the first time in 200 years of the Republic, women will reach the highest distinction that our people can give us: the presidency of Mexico. And I say it in plural, because I do not arrive alone: we all arrived, with our mothers, with our daughters and with our granddaughters,” said the candidate. “It is time for transformation and that means living without fear and free of violence. And from this platform I tell you: colleagues, friends, sisters, daughters, mothers, grandmothers: You are not alone!” The public chanted: “You are not alone, you are not alone!”, and the cry was transformed into another slogan: “President, president!”
Surrounded on stage by candidates for governor and Congress, Morena leaders and campaign coordinators—such as Marcelo Ebrard, Ricardo Monreal and Adán Augusto López—Sheinbaum recounted López Obrador’s achievements and took them as a road map for her Government proposal. She affirmed that in six years the neoliberal economic model that impoverished employment and the countryside, which served to enrich a few and opened the door to corrupt businesses from those in power, has been dismantled. “In addition, those years were accompanied in Mexico by electoral fraud, assassinations, violations of immunity, betrayal of democracy, war and vote buying. For this reason, the people of Mexico do not want to return to the past,” she stated. The candidate affirmed that poverty and inequality were reduced, historical highs were recorded in foreign direct investment, the unemployment rate was reduced, the informal economy decreased, the peso strengthened against the dollar and the minimum wage increased. “Mexico is heading to be an economic power,” she summarized. Sheinbaum specified that, although she recognizes the free market system, in its management her fate will not be left to chance. invisible handbut the State will play a fundamental role in guaranteeing well-being and prosperity.
Not everything was celebration in the Zócalo, however. A part of the vast public square was occupied by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), the most combative faction of the teachers’ union. The teachers, mostly from rural schools, kept their camp protected with metal fences. One of the leaders had reported days before of an agreement with the Government to relocate the camp and clear the space for Sheinbaum. A spokesperson for the CNTE stated today that said agreement did not exist. The teachers demand from the López Obrador Government a salary increase and the repeal of an old pension law. The demands extend to Sheinbaum, in whom they see the future president. “It is a political position towards her. No party represents us. The CNTE will always demand that justice be done. For Morena, today is an act of festivity. We say that this event is not about celebration: it is about struggle and protest,” said Esteban Vázquez, spokesperson for the teaching profession.
Since even within the dissidents there are dissidents, another teacher, José Calva, distances himself from his colleagues and criticizes that they have not withdrawn from the Zócalo. He considers them intolerant and says they border on the intransigence of the right. “They are making a mess of the right. The ends meet. López Obrador rightly says that they are hypocritical, double-faced,” he states. What does this retired teacher, who for four decades taught in schools in Mexico City, think of Sheinbaum? “What can I say about such a prepared person?” He asks. “She is a left-wing woman, who grew up with scientific knowledge and with ideas of helping people who have suffered, like the people of Mexico, the farmers, the workers, and who fought at the university,” says the teacher. Sheinbaum, on stage, will say that during the campaign she has known a Mexico that has moved her. “Thank you for so much,” he will say. And with a sense of history, he too: “I am more than clear that I am part of a social movement that comes from afar.”
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