Xóchitl Gálvez said it all in less than 18 minutes. That was how long the opposition candidate’s speech lasted before almost 18,000 supporters who packed the Monterrey Arena, at the end of the campaign. In the final hours of the race, with no time for more, Gálvez launched a last prayer this Wednesday to his voters: he asked them to believe that victory against the ruling party Claudia Sheinbaum is possible in next Sunday’s elections. “In the National Palace they are trembling because they know that there are more of us good and that we are already tired,” said the standard bearer of the Heart and Force for Mexico coalition excitedly. “Rest assured: God is with us, have faith. If God is with me, who is against me? ”She said to the screams of a wave of followers, who roared even though they did not expect the religious reference.
Gone are the polls, the attacks in the debates, the endless tours and the war of spots. With three months of campaign behind him, Gálvez stood on stage and took the microphone for the last massive event of his tours through the 32 states of the country, with the intention of making it clear to his rival that he will fight until the end. “Monterrey, we are a few hours away from the great feat,” he said at the start of the rally, amid cheers that made the “Xóchitl, Xóchitl!” and “President, president!” in the dome of the covered stadium. “Are you ready to fight the most important battle of your lives?” he asked before the explosion broke out. Yeah in the stands. “This June 2 we are going to open the doors of the National Palace for all Mexicans.”
Although the event put an end to the campaign, the standard bearer of the alliance made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) remained in the same positions. lines that he followed from the beginning of the campaign. “Morena is leaving, but the social programs are staying,” she promised. “There will be no greater priority in my Government than your safety,” she assured. She also promised to leave behind the divisions that marked the election and, from the opposition perspective, the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “That is the most serious thing. No divided country moves forward, that is why we are all going to work hand in hand, as one Mexico,” she said.
Mexico comes to this election with three options on the ballot, but mostly divided between two women. The ruling coalition headed by Morena and the opposition front stated from the beginning that this was a struggle between two candidates, two styles and two political models: the disciplined or the irreverent, the leader or the challenger, Sheinbaum or Gálvez. Jorge Álvarez Máynez, the third party in contention, put the Citizen Movement (MC) alternative on the table for those who did not want to enter into that dilemma.
However, during this Wednesday afternoon in Monterrey and Mexico City, the two most populated metropolitan areas in the country, practically everything revolved around that dichotomy. “What is at stake is practically the future of Mexico,” said the opponent, from the industrial engine of the northeast, where Morena’s steamroller has not managed to prevail. “In the north we don’t like Morena or the oranges, we want security,” says Nora Grimaldo, 40, who punctuates her comment when the northern music takes over the venue. “What our adversaries do not understand is that democracy has always been on the side of our movement,” responded the official from the capital’s Zócalo, the historic bastion of the left.
“We are convinced that Mexico deserves more, that’s why we are here,” says Rey Cerecedo, a 53-year-old fan, explaining his decision to support Gálvez and wear a pink t-shirt to show his support. Only one in five Mexican voters remains undecided, according to the latest Enkoll survey for EL PAÍS and W Radio. The rest assure that his decision is firm. “I’m a fan of at the top of his lungs during the event.
At the Monterrey Arena, it was all about the opposition and its candidate. It is the “Mexico without fear”, of the disenchanted and the fed up, who demand a change with the help of the traditional parties. The doubts and uncertainty remained outside before the appointment at the polls. “Xóchitl is the best and the only one that can give us peace of mind and security,” says Norma de la Vega, 84 years old. “The only survey that counts is this Sunday’s, that is the only real survey,” Cerecedo says, about the debate that has faced the leader and the challenger for 88 days.
The 4.5 million voters who live in the State made Nuevo León an obligatory stop for the three candidates. They all passed through Monterrey lands in the last week. Máynez’s campaign had the tragic accident in San Pedro Garza García, which left nine dead and more than 200 injured in official figures, precisely seven days ago. Sheinbaum canceled his public activities in the entity a day later in solidarity with the victims. Gálvez’s team began the event with a minute of silence and chose this point for its closing, as part of a strategy that covered the most populated cities in the country and priority areas for the opposition. The candidate visited Hidalgo, her homeland, and Jalisco on Monday. She was on Tuesday in Querétaro and Yucatán, governed by the PAN. And hours before Monterrey she had her last event in the State of Mexico.
![Gálvez was accompanied by other candidates from the Corazón y Fuerza por México coalition.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/EXCX2EPK62EREXX25Q2YT3W2A4.jpg?auth=34929964225c08788dbe67f8f37c81713f6ce4532f0719fb7d096891563b64e4&width=414)
Nuevo León, however, is not governed by the PAN or the PRI. The decision to close in the Citizen Movement bastion also gave people something to talk about. “It is a slap in the face for Samuel García and MC, his government has not worked here,” says Marisa Chávez about the governor. Gálvez threw several darts at his orange rivals during the event and called García “corrupt.” “Orange governments prefer to win likes than to give results, they prefer to show off their tennis shoes’phospho phospho‘, instead of putting yourself in people’s shoes,” he said. “The new thing came out rancider than a rotten orange,” she concluded.
The last act also had a bittersweet air of farewell and closing of the cycle. The candidate thanked her daughter Diana Vega for coordinating the xóchilovers; to the New Leon candidates who mobilized their bases en masse to show muscle; to Santiago Creel, the coordinator of his campaign; to the PAN member Kenia López Rabadán; to the leader of the PRI, Alejandro Alito Moreno, and other PRI members who joined such as Enrique de la Madrid and Ildefonso Guajardo.
Xóchitl was Xóchitl until the last breath of the fight. The Pink Tide candidate, the always indomitable one, the candidate who believes in “the feat” against all odds, the one who divides the most opinions among the population, the one who had to convince beyond PRI members, PAN members and PRD members. “Today hope changed hands. “Hope is ours,” she said, surrounded by her family, before the fireworks suddenly lit up the arena and the pink pieces of paper rained down on the stage.
In the blink of an eye, the candidate rushed to the airport to arrive before midnight in Tepatepec, her town in Hidalgo, to celebrate with family and friends in the place where it all began. “I already won. “No matter what happens, I will continue to be a happy woman,” she assured in the last interview she gave to EL PAÍS a few days ago. For the rest, the die is cast. It all comes down to what happens on Sunday.
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