Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum of the leftist ruling
Morena party pledged continuity with the largely
non-confrontational security policies of her mentor, President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, while also touting her
crime-fighting record as leader of the sprawling capital.
"I'm the only one who can show results in security," said
Sheinbaum, arguing that the murder rate on her watch dipped as
she hired more police while also supporting social programs
aimed at what she described as easing the underlying causes of
crime.
Sheinbaum, a scientist, ran Mexico City from 2018 to 2023 when
she stepped down to run for president, and earlier in her career
served as the capital's environment minister under then-Mayor
Lopez Obrador.
Her chief opponent, Xochitl Galvez, disputed Sheinbaum's record
as mayor, claiming that murders actually rose due to a
disproportionately higher number of deaths in which no cause was
officially disclosed.
Galvez, a senator who represents a left-right coalition of
parties that once dominated Mexican politics, repeatedly
attacked the ruling party for turning a blind eye to
lawlessness, especially the violent crime caused by the
country's powerful drug gangs.
"The country is on fire because of the pact that you all have
with criminals," said Galvez, recalling when Lopez Obrador
warmly greeted the mother of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the
jailed drug lord, in 2019.
Galvez, a businesswoman, repeatedly derided Sheinbaum as "the
candidate of lies," flashing a graphic depicting her opponent
with a Pinocchio-style nose, and promised to continue generous
social spending programs enacted by Lopez Obrador.
The lively debate played out just two weeks before voters head
to the polls on June 2 in an election that has for months seen
Sheinbaum maintain a double-digit lead in most public polling.
If elected, Sheinbaum or Galvez, both 61, would be the first
woman president of Mexico, where presidents are limited by law
to a single six-year term.
A third candidate also shared the stage with the two leading
women hopefuls - Jorge Alvarez Maynez, a 38-year-old ex-state
legislator from the centrist Citizen Movement party.
He promised to prioritize children in his long-shot bid,
including more funding for higher education, while also opposing
the criminalization of abortion and recreational marijuana.
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Christopher
Cushing)
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