Elections in Mexico: the opposition candidate is not a prophet on her land

She is not a prophet in her country. Opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez, who highlights her indigenous and poor origins, is struggling to win. convince in his native town, which seems acquired à her rival from the left in power and her social programs for the June 2 presidential election in Mexico.

Ms. Galvez, 61 years old, former center-right senator and business leader, was born in 1963 to an Otomi (an indigenous community) father who was a bilingual schoolteacher and a mother in home in Tepatepec in the state of Hidalgo, about a hundred kilometers north of Mexico.

In the streets of this agricultural town of 11,000 inhabitants, we especially notice posters in favor of Claudia Sheinbaum, the candidate of the Movement for National Regeneration (Morena, left) in power, widely favored in the June 2 election.

Ruben Angeles Santiago, neighbor and friend of the Galvez family, was able to experience the paradox up close during a recent national farmers' meeting.

A street in Tepatepec, hometown of opposition presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez, on May 21, 2024 in Mexico © AFP – ALFREDO ESTRELLA

“I saw that the majority supported Xochitl, but not here,” this 65-year-old veterinarian told AFP.

The candidate with flowery language is supported by a coalition of three parties, the former state party of the PRI, in power for 70 years until 2000, the PAN (liberal-conservative), and the PRD, rather classified as center-left.

– “Ballet” –

When “Xochitl” was a child in the 1960s-70s, Tepatepec was immersed in poverty. The candidate said she prepared and sold sweets when she was a child to pay for her studies.

Opposition presidential candidate, Xochitl Galvez, on May 19, 2024 in Mexico City © AFP – Alfredo ESTRELLA

“When you were dancing ballet at ten years old, I had to work”, she said during the last televised debate on Sunday to her rival Claudia Sheinbaum, from the intellectual middle class of the capital.

Years later, with an engineering degree in hand, Ms. Galvez created a technology company and was appointed in 2000 to the cabinet of President Vicente Fox (PAN, 2000-2006), in charge of a national commission for development of indigenous peoples.

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Far from feeling proud of his success, some of the inhabitants of his hometown doubt his history as a social defector who knew how to overcome all the obstacles to work force.

“It's not true that she suffered so much in her childhood”, assures Feliz Manso, a 76-year-old housewife.

“These are pure lies. Hopefully she doesn't get to the presidency, because who knows where she'll leave us,” says the retiree, committed to the cause of Morena and the outgoing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

A street in Tepatepec, hometown of opposition presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez, on May 21, 2024 in Mexico © AFP – ALFREDO ESTRELLA

“I feel bad because he is leaving,” says Feliz Manso about the outgoing president, who is leaving power after a single six-year term as provided for in the Constitution.

She says “thank God” to him, because he allowed her to receive the universal pension for those over 65 (around 77 dollars per month).

– “People talk badly about her” –

On the outskirts of the town, the afternoon unfolds its languor, the neighbors locked in their homes to protect themselves from the sun .

A man sits in the shade of a tree in Tepatepec, hometown of opposition presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez, on May 21, 2024 in Mexico. © AFP – ALFREDO ESTRELLA

Landlocked in the Mezquital valley, agriculture remains a vital activity in Tepatepec.

Many houses and a number of businesses display posters of Morena. The outgoing president enjoys a 66% approval rate for his policies, according to the Oraculus Institute.

Nearby, José Luis Ramirez, a 48-year-old plumber who lives between Tepatepec and Ciudad de Mexico, believes that Ms. Galvez is “the best option”, while recognizing that she “is not very popular” in her hometown.

“People talk badly about her. The problem is that people don't read,” says the entrepreneur. “They are going to vote for Morena because of all the money we give them.”

The question of programs and social assistance granted by the government of Mr. Lopez Obrador was central in the electoral debate.

At the start of her campaign, Xochitl Galvez promised that she would maintain the social programs put in place by the current government, by signing an official commitment with her blood in front of a notary.

Ruben Angeles, the neighbor and friend of the Galvez family, assures that the inhabitants of Tepatepec who are going to vote for “Xochitl” do not say so, for fear that their pensions will be “taken away” .

He believes that the candidate's chances have increased after the three debates.

“I think that “They will be equal, before I was sure that Sheinbaum was going to win, not anymore”, he declares.

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