The Mexican people have elected Claudia Sheinbaum as the first Presidenta de Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos! Mexicans everywhere will point out that they have elected the first woman President before their Americans neighbors did. But this is not the first time Mexicans have bested the Americans in politics. In 1829, they elected Vicente Guerrero, the first Afro-Mexican President, way before the Afro-American, Barak Obama, got into office 2009. Then, while Americans were massacring each other in the Civil War, and in full genocide mode against Native Americans, the first Indian President, Benito Juárez was elected in 1861 and led Mexicans in a war against the French that saved our country.
Mexicans everywhere should rightly feel proud of this historical event: the first woman president in North America. But before we begin to taunt the Americanos about having another “first”, let’s reflect a bit on the elections and on the country that Presidenta Sheinbaum is going to inherit from her political mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
First, we need to recognize the organization of an election process that, with few glitches, ran smoothly and without any violent confrontations as some feared would happen. Mexico’s much-beleaguered democratic institutions appear to have pulled off the elections with such reliability and legitimacy that opposition candidates, Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Máynez, quickly acknowledged President-elect Sheinbaum’s victory. Thus, setting the example for their American neighbors who have lately lost this political etiquette.
Mexicans have also shown political maturity by electing a woman president. This in no way diminishes the machismo that continues to reign in the country. But the fact that the electorate has opted for a woman to lead the nation is of great import. It reveals the vast power women have in Mexico, a power that men have kept in check ever since mexicanas were finally allowed to vote in 1953. One can sense an air of change in Mexico. Let’s hope that Claudia will do right by women throughout the country. To do so, she’ll have to clearly demonstrate her feminist credentials and distanced herself from AMLO’s anti-feminism.
It was likewise great to see an election where ethnicity, gender, and religion were not an issue. If the election had taken place in the US, we would have been inundated with articles in the press about Jewishness, Indianness, and Catholicism establishing victimhood credentials for Claudia and Xóchitl. Mexicans didn’t care one bit about identity. Makes me wonder, though, if the double-citizenship Mexicans that voted in the US are also willing to ignore the identity politics game politicians play in El Norte and concentrate instead on issues that affect them. Probably not, because in the US minorities are expected to vote based on their color, not on the content of their politics.
Despite the positives cited above, the elections do leave us with deep concerns. First and foremost is the question: Will Claudia play the faithful disciple role and continue to spread the gospel of what Enrique Krauze calls the Tropical Messiah? A gospel whose main tenets are: do not do unto narcos as they do unto you. Hugs not bullets will conquer them. If violence confronts you? Women are killed? People disappear and melt into air? Just say over and over: Mexico is fine, no pasa nada. The success of Sheinbaum’s administration will depend on her adherence or rejection of this absurd political gospel that AMLO preaches every morning from his cathedral, aka the National Palace (I must say that one of the best things about the elections is that there will be no more boooooring mañaneras).
At first glance, it’s doubtful Sheinbaum will change course given that she received a staggering 59.3% of the vote. That is perhaps the most surprising thing about the election. How do we interpret this unexpected colossal victory? Well, it appears the people have loudly proclaimed they’re happy with the state of the country. The gospel is working. They’re happy with the violence: 30,000 murders per year, they’re happy with 10 women being killed on a daily basis, they’re happy with the disappearance of men, women and children, they’re happy 95% of crimes go unpunished, they’re happy with the mass narco-graves that dot the land, they’re happy with the cartels having control of half the country, they’re happy with the rampant corruption that still exists, and they’re happy living in a militarized nation. They’re happy, that is, as long as Morena keeps sending their monthly $3000 pesos through one of the social welfare programs.
The results of the elections also prove that Mexico is not as polarized as we thought. Claudia has the backing of nearly two out of three mexicanos. The disgruntled ones are in the minority. It’s this vocal minority that worries about AMLO’s political gospel and authoritarian tendencies, and now Claudia’s too since she has promised to not deviate one inch from AMLO’s agenda. These critics of the regime are voices crying out in the wilderness. The elections have revealed a disconcerting fact that perhaps we didn’t fully understand before. It’s not just that AMLO and Sheinbaum want to restore La Dictadura Perfecta as many critics have pointed out, the results of the elections show that the majority of Mexicans also have a yearning, a deep nostalgia for the authoritarian PRI years that supposedly ended in 2000. As was the case with some European nations that unyoked themselves from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, it’s amazing how quickly the majority of the Mexican population decided to revert back to an authoritarian regime. This time of their own choosing.
Postcards From a PostMexican 
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