Syracuse Sun

Reporters seeking an expert on the issues facing the newly elected president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, are encouraged to contact Gladys McCormick, an associate professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Professor McCormick provides insight into President-elect Sheinbaum's historic election as the first woman president of Mexico and addresses the challenges her administration will face, from national security to military issues. For interview arrangements, please contact Ellen James Mbuqe, executive director of media relations, at ejmbuqe@syr.edu.

From Professor McCormick:

“A woman was elected president in Mexico and the runner-up was also a woman. Neither of them focused heavily on their gender on the campaign trail. How is this possible? Since the 1990s, legislative reforms have been in place to increase the number of women representatives in Congress. The most decisive of these steps came in 2014 when the government passed a constitutional amendment mandating 50% gender parity in the nominations for candidates for all electoral offices. These steps socialized the presence of women in Mexican elections at all levels and guaranteed the creation of a pipeline of strong, effective, and prepared female political candidates to steadily run for more and more offices.

“The election of a woman does not mean that gender issues will loom large in the platform of President Sheinbaum. Mexico has one of the highest rates of violence against women in the Western Hemisphere, with ten women killed every day. Nevertheless, the election of a woman is a clear signal of how far women have come as political actors since they received the right to vote 70 years ago,” said McCormick.

“Come October when the new president steps into her office at the National Palace, she will confront several urgent issues. These include what to do with increasing deficit spending, unsustainable subsidies for the government’s oil company (PEMEX), and a security crisis afflicting the lives of most Mexicans. This last one – security – is perhaps the most worrisome because of the complexity surrounding how the country has arrived at a moment where voters indicated that extortion, kidnapping, and impunity are their number one concern; where Mexican cities dominate among the top-ten most dangerous places in the world; where 98% of crimes go unpunished; and where over 200 organized criminal groups are active today,” said McCormick.

“Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to continue AMLO’s approach to security, including his ‘hugs not bullets’ approach to social welfare spending aimed at counteracting organized crime. Analysts have used phrases like ‘there is little light between AMLO and Sheinbaum.’ Yet, security issues will put this continuity to test because President Sheinbaum will need to deliver new policies or measures to address growing insecurity rates and fulfill some campaign promises,” said McCormick.

“Even more worrisome will be what AMLO’s relationship with the military means going forward. He has had increasingly close ties with them and has given them broad control over public infrastructure and duties outside their traditional scope such as immigration enforcement. This is likely to continue because President Sheinbaum will be reluctant to antagonize her predecessor’s closest ally. If this holds true, we might see further military dominance in governing Mexico,” said McCormick.