浪花直播

Claudia Sheinbaum made history by being elected as Mexico鈥檚 first female president. But just hours later and 300 miles from the capitol, the assassination of a small-town female mayor also made history.  

Claudia Sheinbaum鈥檚 June 2nd election broke new ground for Mexico. On October 1st, she will become the country鈥檚 first woman president, nearly six years after taking office as Mexico City鈥檚 first female mayor. Receiving close to 60% of the vote, her 30-point margin of victory was the largest since 1982, when Mexico was still under one party rule. With Sheinbaum at the top of the ticket, the Morena Party captured , and more than 250 of Mexico鈥檚 300 directly elected congressional seats.  

Mexico鈥檚 2024 elections saw history being made in other ways, too, both tragic and disturbing.  

Hours after Sheinbaum declared victory, Yolanda S谩nchez鈥攖he first female mayor of Cotija, a small city west of the capital鈥攚as shot as she walked home from the gym. Her assassination, which many observers believe was the work of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, wasn鈥檛 a complete surprise. Since she took office in 2021, organized criminal groups seemed to have Sanchez in their sights, and in 2023 she was kidnapped and terrorized by her captors for three days. 

While this election cycle has probably been the most vibrant in Mexico鈥檚 modern history, it has also been its most violent. At least seeking office were killed (some estimates put the number higher), and more than 828 non-lethal attacks were recorded. Left unchecked, these attacks threaten to undermine democracy itself. For example, after two candidates for mayor in Michoac谩n were killed on the same day, in other local races withdrew their candidacies out of fear.   

It鈥檚 not only candidates and office holders who have been victimized: family members of candidates have also suffered. At least of candidates were killed in recent months.  

Gangs and drug cartels are often the culprits in politically motivated violence, especially when it comes to local elections, because that鈥檚 where politicians can best protect鈥攐r ignore鈥攖heir interests. A recent investigation by the New York Times found that organized crime groups were involved in at least killed this campaign season. While Mexico鈥檚 national government pledged to protect politicians as they campaigned this year, and deployed  security forces to defend , state governments lacked the resources to assist in these efforts and protect local politicians from political extortion and cartel violence鈥攑oliticians like Cotija鈥檚 Yolanda S谩nchez.  

For female politicians in Mexico, the challenges run even deeper. While more women ran for office than during any other election cycle in Mexico鈥檚 history, women overall in the country have suffered under record-breaking rates of gender-based violence and femicide. According to a Mexican government , more than 70% of women and girls over the age of 15 have experienced some kind of violence throughout their lives. Sadly, this trend has also been felt elsewhere in the Americas. 浪花直播鈥檚 Latin America Program recently launched its  project, gender-based violence in Latin America from a rule of law lens.  

During her historic campaign, president-elect Sheinbaum suggested she鈥檚 鈥� to bring peace,鈥� pointing to her track record as mayor. She has her work cut out for her. Her candidacies鈥攆or mayor and president鈥� broke barriers for women in terms of their engagement in the political process. But violence against women鈥攅specially those running for office鈥攔epresent new barriers that could undo the progress of which Mexico is so very proud. 

This blog was researched and drafted with support from Camilla Reitherman and Katherine Schauer.