Mexico

LONDON — Claudia Sheinbaum broke the glass ceiling when she was declared the winner of Mexico’s presidential elections this week.

It is a modern-era feat that eludes Group of Seven powerhouses such as the United States, France and Japan. But Sheinbaum’s decisive victory means Mexico joins the likes of its Latin American compatriots, Argentina and Brazil, in electing a female head of state in the 21st century.

Claudia Sheinbaum went to her voting center on Sunday and marked her ballot with the name of Ifigenia Martínez, the first Mexican woman to graduate from Harvard University with a master’s degree and doctorate and one of the first women to reach a position of responsibility in Mexico’s public administration.

MEXICO - Mexico is on course to elect its first woman president this weekend, with two front-runners competing to break the highest political glass ceiling in a country with a history of gender violence and inequality.

Ruling-party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum and opposition hopeful Xochitl Galvez, both 61, have dominated the presidential race in the world's most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people.

On June 2, 2024, presidential elections will be held in Mexico, and, for the first time in Mexico’s history, there are tangible conditions to have its first female president. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Berta Xochitl Galvez Ruiz are vying for the top spot in the polls, leaving third candidate Jorge Álvarez Maynez at a comfortable distance.

At first, they thought they would be the ones preparing themselves for political positions in Mexico: “a feminist party,” they mused. But then, they realized that wasn’t their purpose. They came to the conclusion that, although they care deeply about the way politics are done in their country, they didn’t personally want to step into those roles.