“For the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first female president of Mexico. I do not arrive alone. We all arrived with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our ancestors, our mothers, our daughters, and our granddaughters.” — Claudia Sheinbaum.

Women have played a fundamental role in Mexico’s independence, reform, and revolution. Unfortunately, they did not have a right to political participation. But, finally, on October 17, 1953, Mexican women were granted the fundamental right to vote.

Their struggle began during the Mexican Revolution, with the starting point being the First Feminist Congress of the Yucatan in 1916. At that historic meeting, the women gathered there demanded equality, education, and citizenship in order to build together with the men in a responsible manner. Historically, Yucatan was the first state to recognise women’s right to vote in 1923.

On June 3, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico’s first woman president in a historic landslide win. Mexico’s official electoral authority said preliminary results showed the 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City winning between 58 per cent and 60 per cent of the votes in the election. It was a landmark election that saw not one, but two women vying to lead one of the hemisphere’s biggest nations.

Nearly 100 million people were registered to vote in the presidential election, but turnout appeared to be slightly lower than in the past. Voters were also electing governors in nine of the country’s 32 states and choosing candidates for both houses of Congress, thousands of mayorships, and other local posts, in the biggest election the nation has seen.

Jewish Background

Both of Sheinbaum’s parents were scientists, and she studied physics before going on to receive a doctorate in energy engineering. Sheinbaum is accustomed to breaking the proverbial glass ceiling, as in 2018 she became the first female mayor of Mexico City, a post she held until 2023 when she stepped down to run for president.

Sheinbaum, whose Jewish maternal grandparents immigrated to Mexico from Bulgaria fleeing the Nazis, had an illustrious career as a scientist before delving into politics. Her paternal grandparents hailed from Lithuania.

The first Jews arrived in Mexico in 1519, along with Spanish colonisation. The community began to grow substantially by the early 20th century, as thousands of Jews fled from the Ottoman Empire to escape instability and anti-Semitism.

An estimated 50,000 Jewish people live in Mexico. The majority are settled in Mexico City and its surroundings, with small communities in the cities of Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Cancún, San Miguel de Allende, and Los Cabos.

Sheinbaum’s election will see a Jewish leader at the helm of one of the world’s largest predominantly Catholic countries. Her victory underscores the advances women have made in the political sphere in a country with one of the highest rates of femicide in the world.

Her win also comes at a significant time, as the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has displaced more than one million Palestinians and left more than 35,000 people dead, according to officials in Gaza. Since the beginning of the war last year, Sheinbaum has condemned attacks on civilians. She even called for a ceasefire and said she supports a two-State solution.

Political lineage

Without a doubt, Sheinbaum is Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s political protégé. She started her political career as his environment minister after he was elected mayor of Mexico City in 2000. She has been unwaveringly loyal ever since, even supporting his pro-oil energy agenda despite her environmental background.

It is often said that while Sheinbaum lacks López Obrador’s charisma and popular appeal, she has a reputation for being analytical, disciplined, and exacting. Most importantly, she has promised to support López Obrador’s policies and popular social programmes, including a universal pension benefit for seniors as well as providing cash payments to low-income residents.

Interestingly, both the outgoing president and Sheinbaum are from the governing Morena political party. Under Mexico’s constitution, presidents can only serve one six-year term.

This is indeed a proud and momentous victory for gender equality and female empowerment, not only for the region but the entire world. The election of Sheinbaum will undoubtedly give hope to Mexican girls in particular and girls in general that their biological sex is not an indicator of what they can achieve.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and gender issues. Send comments to Jamaica Observer or waykam@yahoo.com.