On September 15, Claudia Sheinbaum — the first woman president in Mexico’s history — stepped onto the balcony of the National Palace to perform the ritual grito, or cry of independence.
In keeping with her government’s drive to recognize overlooked female figures in Mexican history, she included among the familiar pantheon of independence heroes names such as Josefa Ortiz Téllez-Girón, who tipped off insurgents that their plan had been discovered; Leona Vicario, who provided them with both intelligence and financing; and Manuela Molina, who fought directly in their forces as La Capitana.
At each mention in the list of vivas, the packed crowd in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s central square, roared in approval. For them, President Sheinbaum’s year in power has been a remarkable success.
The ceremony capped a heady two weeks in which the Sheinbaum administration rolled into its one-year anniversary in office with a full head of steam. On September 1, the presidenta delivered her first informe, Mexico’s equivalent of the State of the Union address, after which she hit the road to deliver parallel informes in each of the thirty-two states. There was plenty of good news to report.
According to the most recent statistics, 13.4 million Mexicans were lifted out of poverty during the term of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), while the Gini coefficient, measuring income inequality, has decreased from 0.426 to 0.391. Her first year has seen the passage of key laws and constitutional reforms, including a judicial reform providing for…
Auteur: Kurt Hackbarth
