Is Mexico ready for a female president?

Mexico is preparing to make history this Sunday with the election of its first president. Between the political, economic and social influence, the Voice of America asked some citizens: Is Mexico ready for a female president?

Silvia Gómez Hernández, a cleaning worker in Mexico City, said she felt “proud” to be able to vote for a woman on June 2. The 54-year-old woman and mother of four children added that now we will see “how we stand out as women.”

“That represents all of us women and I think that [quien gane] “She is going to support us in all aspects of women… we help and support each other, and I expect that from my president,” she added hopefully.

Luis López, a young 21-year-old student, said that it is “very important” to be able to choose a woman. “For me it is perfect because it represents gender equality. That both men and women can be presidents,” he noted.

The presidential position is disputed between the ruling party Claudia Sheinbaum and the opposition Xóchitl Gálvez. The third candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, has remained below both in the polls.

Areas where the new Mexican president will have to work include insecurity and the presence of organized crime, the lack of transparency and the absence of the rule of law, access to health and medicines.

Miriam Grunstein, a Mexican analyst, assures that whoever ends up president “will open the way” for women in politics, however, “as this country is sexist, it could be the case that the insufficiency of some of them translates as “Women cannot govern.”

María, a resident of the state of Aguas Buenas who was visiting Mexico City, said she is confident that the “changes will be good” with a female president.

“I think it’s up to women to support women. Mexico is ready. It is our opportunity,” she concluded.

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