Sheinbaum’s symbols before the Congress: from the women’s delegation to Iphigenia Martínez at the border

It seems that Claudia Sheinbaum has entered alone into the meeting room where she is to take office as President of Mexico. But, in reality, behind him, or beside him, or in front of him, or above him, thousands, millions of Mexican women have entered. They have gathered at the doors of the Chamber of Deputies and surged like an unstoppable sea. Sheinbaum, the first woman to lead the country after 65 men before her, said as she took the oath of office: “For the first time in 503 years of history (since the Spanish Conquest), women became president. And I say we arrived, because I did not arrive alone, we all arrived. The inauguration of Sheinbaum, a 62-year-old leftist scientist, as one of the president’s flags is filled with allusions to feminism, and is also a tribute to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In an image rich in symbolism, Sheinbaum receives the presidential leash from symbolic representative Iphigenia Martínez, one of the first fighters of the leftist movement in Mexico.

At his request, Sheinbaum, who wore a dress embroidered by an indigenous artist, was welcomed by a delegation composed only of MLAs. Giving his first speech, he asked: “I would like to extend the honorable invitation to appoint a President with an ‘A’ at the end, as well as a lawyer, a scientist, a soldier, a fireman, a doctor, a teacher, I will give.” An engineer, with an ‘A’, because, as we’ve been taught, only he who has a name exists. In the legislative chamber, representatives and senators from Morena, PVEM and PT, the ruling faction, chanted “President, President!” Started raising slogans. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, founder of Morena and undisputed leader of the Mexican left, was already present at the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, having gone into the legislative chamber to present the presidential sash, a symbol of the executive’s authority.

The transfer of the presidency from the hands of Iphigenia Martínez, as requested by Sheinbaum, was eventful, due to the leftist pioneer’s advanced age (94 years). Martínez was taken to the board of directors in a wheelchair with the assistance of a nurse and an oxygen tank. Many of them picked him up and made him sit on a chair at the table. Upon his arrival, to help him welcome the plenary session, the head of Morena’s group, Deputy Ricardo Monreal, took his delicate hand and waved it towards the legislators. When López Obrador handed him the presidential sash, Martínez struggled to rise from his chair. “Hey, I’m barely holding on,” she commented to herself, but it was heard through the speaker. Then she took the dress and gently gave it to Sheinbaum, who whispered: “Thank you, Iphigenia.” “Long live Iphigenia!” Representatives and senators shouted to encourage him. Martínez had prepared an emotional speech dedicated to Sheinbaum, whom he could no longer deliver. “Her rise to the presidency is the culmination of a struggle that entire generations of women have gone through, bravely challenging the boundaries of our time. Today, with him, we all come and make way for a new era,” he was going to read.

Sheinbaum replaced López Obrador, who left office with a massive popularity rating of nearly 80% and maintained tremendous influence until the final moments of his six-year term. In the same month he secured approval of a controversial reform of the judiciary, leaving the election of judges to popular vote, and secondly, control of the National Guard was transferred to the army. The scars of those decisions have haunted the former president. The San Lazzaro palace was surrounded by a metal fence and a strong police deployment, while a group of judicial branch employees demonstrated outside the legislative complex. This is the foundation upon which Sheinbaum seeks to build—in his own words—“the second floor of the fourth transformation.”

López Obrador arrived first at the venue amid hugs, kisses and photo requests from legislators, and was given a seat on the board of directors, where Iphigenia Martínez, Norma Pina – head of the Supreme Court – and Gerardo Fernández Norona, president. Of the Senate. “History and people have evaluated him: Andrés Manuel López Obrador, one of the greats,” Sheinbaum explained. “The most important political leader and social fighter in modern history. He said, “On par with the most beloved president, Lázaro Cárdenas, who began and ended his term with the greatest love of his people and millions of people, although he does not like to be called that, he is the best president of Mexico.” , López Obrador listened from his seat. Legislators and invited officials chanted: “It’s an honor to be with Obrador!”

Sheinbaum still referred to López Obrador as “President”, without realizing that since she was already wearing the presidential sash, the designations had changed. At some point he corrected himself and started calling her simply by her name while smiling. “You have on several occasions asked us not to unveil statues, nor to put your name on streets, alleys, neighborhoods or neighborhoods, nor to place monuments, nor to pay huge tributes. The truth is that it is not necessary, because you will always live where only those people live who fight all their lives, who do not give up, who restore hope and happiness. You will always be in the hearts of the people of Mexico. He indicated, “He is retiring from public life as a Democrat.” At the plenary session, there were legislators who shouted: “We will miss you, President!”, “Thank you for what you gave us!”, “You never let us down!”, “I love you so much !” Sheinbaum concluded: “Thank you deeply, thank you, thank you forever. It’s an honor to fight with you. Goodbye, brother, friend, colleague Andrés Manuel López Obrador.”

With Minister Norma Pina next to him and the rest of the ministers of the Supreme Court in a special place on the right side of the Board of Directors, Sheinbaum has defended the difficult reform of the judiciary. The majority in the plenary session applauded. “If the president’s objective had been to control the Supreme Court, we would have reformed (former President Ernesto) Zedillo’s style. No, that is totalitarianism, we are democratic. “We want corruption to end in the judiciary,” he said. Among the ministers present, only Lenia Batres and Loretta Ortiz, ministers close to the ruling party, applauded. Another close friend, Yasmin Esquivel, remained safe, as did the other judges. “How can a decision, which is fundamentally democratic and allows people to decide, be authoritarian? I’m sure that, in a few years, we will all be convinced that this reform is the best,” she said. A small group of protesters against the judicial amendment managed to break into the San Lazaro complex, which has been under siege by ruling party officials for weeks. Were demanding talks together.

Despite his defense in favor of reform, Sheinbaum has signaled reconciliation with the judiciary, in contrast to the long disagreements cultivated by López Obrador over the months. Upon reaching his seat on the board of directors, Sheinbaum approached Pina and shook his hand. In the plenary session, the opposition appreciated this gesture and applauded. López Obrador, on the other hand, when he arrived at his place, only approached Ifigenia Martínez, whom he kissed on the forehead and hand, and avoided approaching Pina. There was no surprise in that neglect. Surprisingly, it would have been the opposite.

There were other symbols at the presidential inauguration. The conservative PAN MLAs arrived dressed entirely in black, as if they were attending a funeral. While the plenary session waited for Sheinbaum to arrive, a long line of representatives and senators formed on the right side of the Board of Directors to approach López Obrador’s seat and welcome him, hug him or take photographs. The opposition did not want to be left behind and began to form a second line, but on the opposite side of the table, at the end where Pina was sitting, whom they also wanted to greet and dedicate a few words. It was a scene as if divided by a mirror: on one side, a colorful row celebrating the continuity of the workshop project; On the other hand, a funeral line that seemed to express condolences.

The weak and injured opposition has also taken over the feminist discourse. The parliamentary coordinators of the Citizens Movement (MC) and the National Action Party (PAN), respectively, Ivonne Ortega and Guadalupe Murguía, have expressed their willingness to reconcile and resume dialogue with the executive, and have valued solidarity in the process. among women. “In a civil movement you will find harmony but not collusion, you will find dialogue but not submission, you will find respect but never submission,” Ortega said. Murguia has called for inaugurating a new era with political balance. “Madam Speaker, don’t make the same mistakes of the past, Morena needs the opposition,” the PAN leader said. In contrast, from the PRI trenches, its chameleon leader and senator, Alejandro Moreno, is pointing to reconciliation between the new president and the ruling party. “You can count on the PRI so that together we can do what is best for Mexico,” he said.

Sheinbaum pays tribute to the women who participated in the most important actions in Mexican history, but also to those “unsung heroines, invisible people”, women without grand stories: domestic workers, indigenous women, great-grandmothers, mothers, sisters, Friends, daughters, granddaughters. “The people who, from their homes, their streets or their workplaces, fought to see this moment,” said Sheinbaum, the first woman in history to preside over Mexico.