The Mexican community of Los Angeles gathered at the headquarters of the Coalition of Full Rights for Immigrants (CDPI) to witness the second debate for president of Mexico.
For almost two hours we saw two candidates determined to win the presidency of the Republic, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, from the Coalition of Let’s Keep Making History (Morena-Party of Labor and Green Ecologist Party of Mexico), and Xóchitl Gálvez, from the opposition PRI-PAN-PRD (PRIANRD); while it was very clear that the Citizen Movement (MC) candidate, Jorge Máynez Álvarez, is fighting but only to unseat Xóchitl Gálvez from second place.
The PRIANRD candidate came to this debate almost without proposals, but determined to tirelessly slander the leader of the race, Dr. Sheinbaum, and the nation project of the Fourth Transformation (4T), that is, the president of the Andrés Manuel López Obrador Republic.
He accused the President of being corrupt, and a burden on the country’s economic progress, highlighting that the costs for the Dos Bocas refinery project had tripled over what was budgeted at the beginning of the work. He also accused the president of having agreed with organized crime to such an extent that in his opinion today we have a “narco-government”, which is supported by a narco-party (Morena).
However, Xóchitl Gálvez saved his heavy artillery to attack Dr. Sheinbaum without hesitation. He accused her of not guaranteeing proper maintenance of essential works for the country’s capital. She accused her of being responsible for the contamination of drinking water, the collapse of the Metro Line 12 bridge, the Rebsamen School, and the Interurban Train. She also asserted that companies committed to Nearshoring are leaving Mexico because, as she explained, “there is no certainty for investors.”
Candidate Gálvez also accused Dr. Sheinbaum of abusing public financing to benefit companies or her or members of her family, and finished by presenting as irrefutable proof that Morena is a narco party, referring to the alleged cult that her militancy and sympathizers in general, pay homage to “Santa Muerte.”
His only clear proposal was when he spoke of forgiving tax payments to all beneficiaries who earn less than $15,000.00 pesos per month, something totally unfeasible according to academic Viri Ríos.
All of these attacks directed at the top of the polls obeyed the script used by political operators of the Mexican right, among whom the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Jorge Castañeda, and the news presenter León Krause, among many others, stand out. All of them have publicly expressed not only their unrestricted support for the PRIANRD candidate, but they have constantly advised that to “knock down” Claudia “you have to hit her with everything.” Furthermore, they have protested for not respecting the rules of the National Electroal Institute (INE) previously agreed upon for each of the debates, because when seeking to overcome the polls “anything goes,” they say.
From this debate we rescue serenity and certainty in each of the counterattacks made by Dr. Sheinbaum
Regarding the work in Dos Bocas, the Doctor explained that it will serve to significantly reduce the importation of gasoline from the US, which in turn will translate into significant economic savings with which current or future social programs can be strengthened. Regarding the Mayan Train, she stated that 85% of the population firmly supports this historic and emblematic project of the 4T government that will bring progress and modernization to the Mexican southeast.
Next, Dr. Sheinbaum delved into her vision to transform the field, and to move towards food self-sufficiency. For this, she committed to significantly improving the prices of farm products. I skillfully take advantage of this topic to point out neoliberalism as the political and economic system responsible for the abandonment of Mexican agriculture, and the massive exodus of migrants to the cities of Mexico, but mostly to the United States. This important circumstance led the candidate to emphasize that neoliberalism has already failed, which is why she committed to continuing the nation project included in the 4T.
Below I break down what the implementation of the 4T project at the federal level has meant for the people of Mexico.
First, salary increases. The minimum wage increased by 113%, and on the Mexico-US border, 300%. More jobs (even with Covid-19, more than 1.8 million jobs were created), there was more investment, the domestic market was strengthened, while the peso has become one of the most coveted currencies in the world; In addition, there is control of inflation and the markup and people benefited from the increases in benefits provided by social programs.
Dr. Sheinbaum not only refuted the gloomy scenario of current Mexico that the PRIAN candidate tried to paint, but also reversed her attacks and slander.
In this regard, he identified million-dollar contracts with different agencies that include the National Water Commission. In short, Dr. Sheinbaum painted Xóchitl as a public servant who uses state financing with the big spoon. In addition, she reminded us that the infamous “gasolinazos” occurred during the six-year terms of former presidents Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto.
At the conclusion of the debate, the journalist from Telemundo’s national news program, Edgar Muñoz, asked everyone present to raise their hands if they believed that the PRIAN candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, had won the debate. Not a single hand was raised. When the same question was asked regarding Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, we all raised our hands, and in unison, the name “Claudia, Claudia, Claudia, Claudia, Claudia, Claudia, Claudia” was chanted.
As of today, according to the polling companies, the second debate was won by Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, at a rate of 54.4%, in a distant second place was the PRIAN candidate with just over 36%, and, in third place Jorge Álvarez Máynez, from Movimiento Ciudadano, was left with 7.5%.
The feeling of those present in the Coalition offices was unanimous, the second debate for president of Mexico had been won by Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum. In fact, in the elections for president of Mexico in 2018, the migrants who were able to vote did so for Mr. Andrés Manuel López Obrador in a proportion of 71.1%. Therefore, in the United States, many Mexican citizens believe that the reason why the National Electoral Institute (INE) continues to block their ability to vote effectively and fully is because there is minimal and weak support for the PRIAN candidates. and opposition abroad.
Juan José Gutiérrez is the executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition.