#Mexico #politics #pikeproductions

Mexico had an historic election in 2024. The nation will be lead by it's first female president whose party has nealry a super majority in the congress. What changes lay ahead for Mexico?

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Chapters:
00:00 - Mexico's New President
00:54 - Mexico's Political Parties
02:08 - Sheinbaum's Early Life
03:36 - 2006 Election
07:56 - Birth of Morena
10:20 - What does Morena Stand For?
12:46 - 2018 Election
14:24 - AMLO's Presidency
23:37 - 2024 Election

Abridged Transcript:

This is Claudia Sheinbaum, and she is a lot of firsts. She's the first woman to be elected president of Mexico. She is also the first Jewish person the Aztec Nation. As all four of Sheinbaum's grandparents are from Eastern Europe, she will be the first person without Hispanic or indigenous heritage to lead Mexico, at least since Maximilian I in the 1860s. The stakes are high for Mexico's first presidenta. Sheinbaum will lead Mexico at a time of tremendous opportunity and tremendous challenge. The Madam President will face tough decisions that will determine if Mexico remains on its upward trajectory or if it regresses backwards. But who is Claudia Sheinbaum? And what is her political agenda? What challenges will she face during her term? And what does her presidency mean for the world at large? To understand Sheinbaum, it requires understanding Mexico's democracy.


Mexico's democracy is quite young, with the first legitimate presidential election, arguably occurring in 1994. Despite using similar democratic rules as the United States, Mexicans have been able to choose from six main political parties, with three being the most dominant. The PRD was the dominant left-wing party, and the PAN is the dominant right-wing party, and the PRI used to be the monopolistic party that dominated Mexican politics prior to the era of democracy. As Mexico democratized, the PRI remained a viable political party. Throughout its history, the PRI has shifted between being right-wing and left-wing, and could be described as center-right in its present incarnation.

Mexican democracy is full of shifting alliances that change with every election. In Mexico's political landscape, allies can turn into enemies with every election cycle, and there's no shortage of drama within the parties themselves, with inter-party conflict being fairly common. Party loyalty is relatively low, as politicians will jump to a new party when it suits their interests. Changing parties is so common that these party-jumping politicians have a specific name: chapulines, or grasshoppers.

While Mexican democracy was taking shape, Sheinbaum was focused on her academic career. She built an impressive resume in the STEM field, particularly in the disciplines of physics, energy, and environmental engineering. While primarily focused on the sciences, Sheinbaum was also active in politics, specifically in left-wing student movements. While teaching at UNAM in the 1990s, a friend introduced Sheinbaum to a fellow leftist, a man named Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO. While the two have opposite personalities and professional backgrounds, they were nearly identical in political ideology. Both were firmly on the left, and believed that the government had a responsibility to grow the middle class and fight poverty.

In the year 2000, AMLO was elected governor of Mexico City, a position that could catapult him to the presidency. As governor, AMLO was able to recruit Sheinbaum out of academia, and she served as his environment secretary. AMLO was quite charismatic as governor, and became well-known across the country. Behind the scenes, Sheinbaum played a crucial role in expanding Mexico City's transportation system. Despite being elected with only 38% of the vote, AMLO left the governor's office with an impressive approval rating of 84%.

The sitting president, Vicente Fox of the right-leaning PAN, achieved a respectable approval rating of 53% near the end of his term. As the Mexican constitution limits presidents to serving only a single term, Felipe Calderon would lead the PAN in the upcoming election. The PRI had little chance of winning due to internal divisions, and external perceptions of corruption. In practical terms, the election put in the right-wing PAN against the left-wing PRD, and polls predicted that it would be a very close election

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