Photo: Claudia Sheinbaum with her husband. Credit: X/@Claudiashein
On the night of Mexico’s historic presidential election, hundreds of thousands of people gathered at El Zócalo in Mexico City as early as 7 p.m. to celebrate the people’s long anticipated sweeping victory of electing MORENA’s running Presidential candidate, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, also achieving a legislative supermajority that will give them the ability to make constitutional changes without consulting the opposition.
The landslide victory demonstrates the people’s staunch support to continue the second phase of the Fourth Transformation, initiated by Dr. Sheinbaum’s predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO. Many of the country’s officials claim this was the largest election in Mexico’s history, with the highest number of participating voters.
Weeks before the election, the right wing and corporate media began a campaign narrative around electoral irregularities directed at MORENA and the coalition parties, all aimed to raise doubt about the credibility of the electoral process. Even hours before the National Electoral Institute announced the projected win of Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the right wing opposition began disseminating false allegations of voter fraud in the city of Mexico. Many claimed there was a cyber attack when the PREP (Preliminary Election Results Program) website was momentarily down.
However, a group of over 200 International Observers, including the author of this piece, visited several polling stations throughout the municipality as soon as they opened and as soon as they closed to ensure a sanctioned electoral process was being carried out. We saw hundreds of people, including a majority of young people, the atmosphere was calm and jubilant, and people were patiently waiting in lines to cast their vote.
For a second time, the Mexican people have rejected the possibility of electing a corrupt, neoliberal leader. Despite the right wing’s failed attempts to manufacture opposition against MORENA, the poor and working class of Mexico understood the dangerous implications of voting back parties like the National Action Party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution, that only prioritized serving the interests of the minority.
There is still a lot of uncertainty as to what Dr. Sheinbaum’s administration will look like in the next 6 years. The people anticipate she will continue to expand on the progressive policies established by her predecessor. As soon as midnight struck the hour on the night of the election, leaders of neighboring countries across the region began congratulating the people of Mexico for electing their first progressive female president. In her victory speech, Dr. Sheinbaum claimed she will continue to fight against privatization and towards meeting the needs of the poor and working class Mexicans.
The people’s historic win is a win for the Latin American region, who recognize that Mexico is going to defend their right for sovereignty and fight against outside intervention.
