Mexico could get first female president in election on 2 June | BBC News

Mexicans go to the polls on Sunday in an historic election both the front runner the former mayor of Mexico City Claudia shanam and the main Challenger are women meaning Mexico is almost certain to choose its first woman president but what impact will that have in a nation with deeply embedded problems of machismo and sexual violence against women and girls our Mexico correspondent will grant reports from the campaign Trail in the Eastern State of verac Cruz Claudia sham bam is so close to making history in Mexico she can almost touch it po suggests she's on the verge of becoming Mexico's first woman president with her nearest rival also a woman she told the BBC it's a sign Mexican Society is evolving it's a symbol for Mexico I think it's a symbol for the world but it's a symbol for Mexico I see it in young girls uh they are exciting that a woman is going to be president and it changed culture for women and for men and you have to develop policies to reduce violence for women in Mexico that's easier said than done but the former mayor of Mexico City is confident of Victory promising to continue the popular Social Development policies of her Mentor president andrees Manuel Lopez obor other nations in Latin America have had women presidents in the past Brazil Chile and Argentina for example but there's something about the ingrained machismo in Mexican Society particularly these these rural indigenous communities that makes this election so historic few know how hard it is to break that culture better than the members of fem Cafe a women's coffee cooperative in Veracruz in most Mexican agricultural co-ops women aren't allowed to vote or hold decision-making roles but in fem Cafe they control the entire Enterprise from Bean to Cup and they had some advice for the next president it's not just about being a woman but about being gender conscious which is a very different thing for example the agricultural Ministry has never been led by a woman and a woman's perspective in that role would make a huge difference to the rural sector the BBC requested an interview with her closest rival SOI Gales but she declined like most critics she accuses Claudia shamam of being a mere puppet of Mr lador something the former environmental scientist firmly denies um I feel sure about myself I I don't don't care about this things that they say of course I of the same movement with Lopez orador we fought together for 20 years or more than 20 years to have the government that we have now and the opportunity for Mexican people and the right for Mexican people the rights um and of course I'm going to live a different time in history a woman president in Mexico is hugely significant and long overdue yet the the biggest challenge still lies ahead in undoing centuries of sexism and gender inequality in one of the most patriarchal Societies in the Americas will grant BBC News Veracruz Mexico

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Length: 3min 14sec (194 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2024