Mexico on Cusp of Electing First Woman President

AFP/APP

Mexico City: Mexicans were expected to make history Sunday by electing their first woman president — a milestone in a country plagued by rampant criminal and gender-based violence.

Voters flocked to polling stations across the Latin American nation, despite sporadic violence in areas terrorized by ultra-violent drug cartels.

Thousands of troops were deployed to protect voters, following a particularly bloody electoral process that has seen more than two dozen aspiring local politicians murdered.

Ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and a scientist by training, had a 17 percentage point lead over her main opposition rival Xochitl Galvez in opinion polls ahead of the vote.

“It’s a historic day. I feel very happy,” Sheinbaum, 61, said as she left her home.

After casting her ballot, the presidential front-runner revealed that she had not voted for herself but for a 93-year-old veteran leftist, Ifigenia Martinez, in recognition of her struggle.

“Long live democracy!” Sheinbaum declared.

Galvez, a 61-year-old outspoken senator and businesswoman with Indigenous roots, said after voting that she expected a “huge participation” in the election.

“What I would like most is that no Mexican had to go abroad to look for opportunities,” she added.

The only man running, long-shot centrist Jorge Alvarez Maynez, was trailing far behind in polling.

It means that, barring a huge surprise, a woman is almost certain to break the highest political glass ceiling in Mexico, where around 10 women or girls are murdered every day.          

“A female president will be a transformation for this country, and we hope that she does more for women,” said Clemencia Hernandez, a 55-year-old cleaner in Mexico City.

“Many women are subjugated by their partners. They’re not allowed to leave home to work,” she said.

Daniela Perez, 30, said that having a woman president would be “something historic,” even though neither of the two main candidates was “totally feminist” in her view.

“We’ll have to see their positions on improving women’s rights, resolving the issue of femicides — which have gone crazy — supporting women more,” added the logistics company manager.

Nearly 100 million people were registered to vote in the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people.

Polling stations began closing at 6:00 pm (2300 GMT) in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo and some areas near the US border, with other regions in different time zones due to follow later.

Sheinbaum owes much of her popularity to outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist and mentor who has an approval rating of more than 60 percent but is only allowed to serve one term.

Reina Balbuena, a 50-year-old street food seller, said she voted for Sheinbaum because the ruling Morena party “has given a lot of support to older adults, to children.”

In a nation where politics, crime and corruption are closely entangled, drug cartels went to extreme lengths to ensure that their preferred candidates win.

Hours before polls opened, a local candidate was murdered in a violent western state, authorities said, joining at least 25 other political hopefuls killed this election season, according to official figures.

In the central Mexican state of Puebla, two people died after unknown persons attacked polling stations to steal papers, a local government security source told AFP.

Voting was suspended in two municipalities in the southern state of Chiapas because of violence.