Harassed but Necessary
THE LATINX COMMUNITY IN THE USA HAS BEEN TARGET OF HATE SPEECH, AND NOW, OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS THAT SEEK THEIR VOTE
Anabel Ortega M.
From the “do not come” to the Virgin of Guadalupe
Will it be the latino vote that is among the undecided
That defines the election?
IN EVERY ELECTION PROCESS, CANDIDATES SEEK TO GET CLOSER TO THE VOTERS IN ALL POSSIBLE WAYS, ESPECIALLY IN A CONTEST AS CLOSE AS THE ONE THAT IS TAKING PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES. THE LATEST POLLS SHOW A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE FROM 2% TO 4%
BETWEEN KAMALA HARRIS FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND DONALD TRUMP FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY DEPENDING ON THE POLLSTER OR THE SAMPLE FOR WHICH THEY APPLY BY STATE.
AAdvisers and strategist of one and the other define agendas for each segment of voters by age, economic stratum, productive sector, state and of course racial origin, especially in a country of migrants. At this segment questions arise: Will the Latino vote be part of these undecided voters who can make a difference?
The Latino vote in the U.S. presidential election has become one of the most discussed electoral issues, and not without reason. According to the Pew Research Center’s analyses, between 2016 and 2024, the number of Latinos eligible to vote in the U.S. increased from 27 million to 36 million (Noe, Krogstad, and Lopez 2024), which means that the Latino community would represent 22.3% of all potential voters in the country.
woman. On the other hand, Donald Trump recently posted a photo of the Virgin of Guadalupe on his X (Trump 2024) account in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, despite not being Catholic. Few would believe it is a coincidence that, of all the depictions of the Virgin Mary, Trump chose the Virgin of Guadalupe, considering that 61% of Mexican Americans identify as Guadalupan Catholics.
“The Latino vote in the past was mistakenly assumed as a homogeneous community in which all its members think alike and therefore vote together. Nothing could be further from the current reality”.
In such a close race, the growing importance of the Latino vote has been so remarkable that both candidates have made multiple efforts to win the support of this demographic group. For example, Kamala Harris has appealed to the Latino community by emphasizing her migrant roots and the difficulties she faced in getting a job because of them, making use of her undeniable warm and empathetic personality, in addition to her condition as a
restrictions on gun access should be implemented, compared to only 17% of non-Latino Republicans who share the same point of view (Krogstad 2022). All groups surveyed were more than 50% supportive of the importance of increasing government regulation in this area.
Another element of equal importance, according to the opinions of those Latinos more sympathetic to the Republican Party, express feeling more identified with this Party on issues such as abortion; What is striking is that there is a recognition in the Latino community itself that the Democratic Party is the most concerned about its community compared to the Republicans.
These being the issues that arouse the most interest, it could be assumed that there would be more agreement with the Democratic Party’s platform even because of the recent results in the 2020 elections that showed a preference for this Party; but today the polls reflect that they have moved towards the Republicans, at least until the nomination of Kamala Harris. And the reason was very clear, not only for Latinos but for the entire population, President Biden’s candidacy was not attractive enough, first because of his age and then because of the inflation that has slowed economic growth.
Several segments of the economy show stagnation in the last two years, such as the real estate sector, which after the boom of the post-covid recovery period with very low interest rates, today, even though rates are not so high, the market has resented these inflation-control movements.
The emphasis on the Latino vote in the past was mistakenly assumed as a homogeneous community in which all its members think alike and therefore vote together. Nothing could be further from the current reality. An example of the diversity of opinions is the difference between Mexicans and Cubans regarding the importance of increasing security at the border between Mexico and the United States. The Pew Research Center shows that while 50% of Mexicans believe that the U.S. government should focus on facilitating the regularization of undocumented migrants, 60% of Cubans believe that it is necessary to strengthen border security to reduce the number of illegal crossings.
The same study reflects that there are also issues on which the Latino community shows a greater agreement of opinions, such as the need to implement greater controls on firearm ownership, with 45% of Latino voters believing that greater
virtually zero (Smith 2017, 155).
Although it is well known that illegal immigrants cannot vote due to multiple electoral locks, this issue does not cease to exist in disinformation campaigns as a possibility that these voters can affect the outcome of the elections by promoting distrust in the electoral authorities, as happened in Oregon, where the transit authority admitted to having made some voting records accidentally. Unfortunately, in such a polarized environment, we cannot lose sight of the fact that these incidents are the subject of disinformation and defamation, such as when there was talk of fraud in the passes by President Trump that encouraged the violent and surprise storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2020. What these studies reflect, as well as others similar, are only trends that can give us an idea of how Latinos will vote. The turn in the Democrats’ candidacy by nominating Kamala Harris has been a very interesting bet for these communities, not only because she is a woman, which is already saying a lot, but because she is the daughter of immigrants of Indian origin and Afro-descendants, a condition that has earned her criticism from Donald Trump, who reproaches her for using this condition to attract voters. Kamala, for her part, has acted decisively as a courageous opponent, empathetic to women’s causes, such as abortion, sexual diversity, migrants, but above all to the middle classes who struggle to get ahead. And in this there could not be more closeness with the Latino community.
The issue of illegal migration, which is sufficiently exploited by Republicans in each election, shows concerns about the impact that these undocumented migrants can have on elections, both local and federal. Analyzing between facts and opinions on this matter has become a difficult task, due to the high degree of politicization it has received. Multiple media outlets, public figures, and politicians have offered contradictory data and narratives. An example of this is the case of Representative Mike Johnson, who warned that “thousands of illegal immigrant voters could change control of the House of Representatives” (Fox News 2024).
“Although illegal immigrants cannot vote due to multiple electoral locks, disinformation campaigns persist in promoting the idea that they could influence election outcomes”.
This issue has generated so much attention that 51% of all U.S. adults consider the potential illegal immigrant vote to be concerning (81% of Republicans see it as a problem, compared to 46% of independents and 24% of Democrats) (Scripps News/Ipsos Poll 2024), even though multiple studies have shown that the impact of illegal immigrant votes is
But Latino voters would ask; why until now? Why didn’t she embrace these causes sooner? As vice president she oversaw the immigration issue since the beginning of Biden’s presidency, and what have been the results on immigration? From the “do not come” in her first appearances in Mexico and Central America until the day of her candidacy, the vice president is not recognized as someone who was sensitive to these issues, at least not in the public eye. Will this new facet of Kamala Harris be enough to contrast candidate Trump’s well-known rhetoric about Latino migrants and about Mexicans whom he considers badmen? Both candidates know that they need them to win, but how to attract them without so much grievance, unfulfilled promises or contradictions? It seems that so much disenchantment could make the premise of the Clinton campaign come true when it was said: “it is the economy.....”! If that were the case, we already know who is going to win.
Kamala Harris-Claudia Sheinbaum:
AND WHAT ABOUT CANADA?
After 503 years, women are now leading Mexico's destiny. I did not arrive alone; we arrived together”.
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM PARDO PRESIDENT OF
MEXICO
BY: GUSTAVO
The first President of the United States was George Washington, inaugurated in 1789, who came to power without a political party.
He was an independent candidate.
The list of U.S. presidents offers some interesting facts. For example, William Henry Harrison served the shortest time in office, only 32 days. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on the other hand, held office for 12 years and 39 days, making him the longest-serving president.
John Adams was the first vice president to ascend to the presidency, and John Quincy Adams was the first son of a president to reach the coveted position.
Andrew Jackson was the first elected under the Democratic Party, and Martin Van Buren was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence.
William Henry Harrison was the first Whig Party president, and Millard Fillmore was the last.
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated in office. Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest to take office at age 42, and Joe Biden was the oldest at age 78.
Herbert Hoover was the first president born west of the Mississippi River; Truman was a war veteran; Kennedy was the first born in the 20th century; Nixon was the first to resign, and Carter was the first born after World War II. Obama was the first African American president and the first born outside the American continent, as Hawaii is considered part of Oceania. Trump was the first to hold no political office before becoming president, coming from the world of business instead.
a country. Out of 195 recognized nations, only 13 percent have a woman in executive power:
If
Sandra
Thirty-three of the 46 presidents attended college. The most common degree was in law. The universities that have produced the most presidents are Harvard and Yale. Currently, there are five living former presidents: Carter, Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump.
However, among these 46 presidents, no woman has yet been elected. The latest polls show a statistical tie. According to Ipsos, if the election had taken place on Thursday, September 26, Harris would have won with 49% of the vote, while Trump would have received 47%.
According to CNN: Harris 48%, Trump 47%. ABC News also reports Harris at 48% and Trump at 46%.
The influential New York Times, in coordination with Siena College, reports that the Democratic candidate is leading in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan—three swing states—which would secure her victory.
NBC News, in its latest study, indicates that Harris has 225 electors versus Trump’s 219, with 94 still undecided in this final stretch.
Fox News claims the vice president holds a twopoint lead over the businessman: 50% to 48%.
The ActiVote poll shows the Hispanic vote will predominantly go to Kamala (52.7%) versus Trump (47.3%).
BBC News notes that Harris is seen as fair, a candidate of many identities, and she resonates with various sectors. Her Indian-Black heritage, her youth, her selection of Tim Walz (who promises stability), her relatability to voters, her strong sense of humor, and her status as a woman are key factors.
Xiomara Castro (Honduras), Dina Boluarte (Peru), Christiane Kangaloo (Trinidad and Tobago), Zeljka Cvijanovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Kaja Kallas (Estonia), Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Greece), Giorgia Meloni (Italy), Evika Silina (Latvia), Ingrida Šimonyte (Lithuania), Myriam Spiteri Debono (Malta), Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova (North Macedonia), Maia Sandu (Moldova), Zuzana Caputová (Slovakia), Nataša Pirc Musar (Slovenia), Judith Suminwa (Democratic Republic of Congo), Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia), Victoire Tomegah Dogbé (Togo), Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Sheikh Hasina (Bangladesh), Salome Zourabichvili (Georgia), Droupadi Murmu (India), Hilda Heine (Marshall Islands), Fiame Naomi Mata’afa (Samoa), and Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico.
Meanwhile, Trump is projected to win Florida (30 electoral votes), Ohio (17), Texas (40), Maine’s second congressional district (1), Alaska (3), Iowa (6), Kansas (6), Missouri (10), Montana (4), and South Carolina (9).
The undecided states are Arizona (11), Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Nevada (6), North Carolina (16), Pennsylvania (19), and Wisconsin (10).
Of 195 recognized nations, only 27 have a woman in executive leadership. The most recent is Mexico, with Claudia Sheinbaum as president since October 1, 2024. Women leading NA
Dear readers of Heraldo USA, conditions are shaping up for the 47th president to be a progressive attorney. Yes, the first woman and the first African American (of Indian descent) vice president is about to move her family photos into the Oval Office.
She was born in Oakland, California. Her father is Jamaican, and her mother was born in Tamil, India. She is seen as an immigrant, one more family that achieved the American dream, and she is on the verge of a Hollywood-like story of governing the world’s most powerful economy.
She has been married to lawyer Douglas Emhoff in a Jewish ceremony since 2014, who would become the first gentleman in history. They have two adult stepchildren, and the whole family attends a Baptist
Experts say Harris already has Colorado (10 electoral votes), Illinois (19), New Jersey (14), New York (28), Oregon (8), Maine’s first congressional district (1), Maine (2), Minnesota (10), New Mexico (5), and Virginia (13) locked in.
Women in leadership:
Kamala Harris would govern more than 325 million Americans, while President Sheinbaum would govern 130 million Mexicans. It is
This
rightful place in the political, economic, educational, social, academic, cultural, ideological, and even religious spheres.
Theo-Ben Gurirab, a Namibian politician who served as president of the United Nations from 1999 to 2000, stated that although women have made notable advances in many professions, politics is not one of them. Since the Beijing Action Plan, women’s representation in parliaments and its impact on political decision-making has been closely monitored. And now, we can add that a huge glass ceiling is about to be shattered: two neighboring women leading the future of North America. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, has repeatedly stated that he is proud to be a feminist. He fulfilled his campaign promise to have a gender-balanced cabinet, but he still has one more task: handing over the keys to his office to a woman.
RENTERÍA
PHOTOART: ALEJANDRO OYERVIDES
church. Her sister, Maya Harris, is a political analyst for MSNBC, and her brother-in-law is general counsel for Uber. She has published three books, one of which is a children’s book.
If she pulls off this feat, she would become the 28th woman to lead
Kamala Harris wins, women will lead the majority of the NA region.
Mason (Barbados), Sylvanie Burton (Dominica),
TEXASMEXICO
ROLANDO PABLOS
“Texas needs a strong Mexico, Mexico needs a strong Texas.”
Ts
The Sheinbaum administration presents a unique opportunity to reset the Texas-Mexico relationship and build stronger ties based on mutual respect, trust, and shared goals. As the new administration takes office, Texas Governor Greg Abbott must seize the moment to engage with Mexican leadership and explore new avenues for collaboration. This includes fostering closer ties between the private sectors of both regions, particularly in industries such as energy, technology, tourism, and manufacturing.
The Sheinbaum administration’s focus on developing robust border infrastructure aligns with Texas’ own efforts to facilitate legitimate travel and trade across our international ports of entry. By working together, Texas and Mexico can lead the way in developing innovative solutions to the world’s most important binational trade bloc while also creating new economic opportunities for the megaregion. This collaboration could involve joint investments in logistics and energy projects, research and development initiatives, and binational workforce training programs that prepare workers for the jobs of the future.
THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR: LEADING THE CHARGE
While political leadership plays an important role in shaping Texas-Mexico relations, the private sectors of both regions must take the lead in driving economic growth and innovation. The Texas Association of Business (TAB) through its Texas-Mexico Trade and Investment Policy Council has been instrumental in fostering a collaborative mindset among business leaders in both regions. This
council brings together private-sector leaders to develop strategies that promote cross-border trade, investment, and innovation, with the goal of creating a more prosperous and resilient Texas-Mexico megaregion.
To date, TAB has signed binational collaboration agreements with eight Mexican trade associations such as CONCAMIN, CCE, and INDEX. TAB has also entered into a similar collaboration agreement with the state of Nuevo León, and is in the process of engaging with more Mexican states. For instance, Coahuila Governor, Manolo Jimenez, has recently announced his intention to house his state’s trade promotion office inside TAB’s facilities in Austin.
The private sector’s role in this process cannot be overstated. Business leaders have the ability to cut through political red tape and establish direct relationships with their counterparts in Mexico. By working together, businesses in Texas and Mexico can unlock new opportunities for growth, create jobs, and improve the quality of life for people on both sides of the border.
SEIZING THE MOMENT:
I am confident that we can work together to fortify the bonds that have created a strong friendship between Texas and Mexico.”
ROLANDO PABLOS
BUILDING A BINATIONAL FUTURE
As we look to the future, the Texas-Mexico relationship is at a pivotal moment. The decisions we make today will shape the future of our region for generations to come.
By committing to a collaborative mindset, embracing San Antonio’s strategic position, and taking bold actions, we can create a brighter, more prosperous future for all. The private sectors of Texas and Mexico must continue to lead the charge, fostering innovation, trade, and investment that benefits both regions. By welcoming the Sheinbaum administration and working together toward shared goals, we can ensure that the Texas-Mexico region thrives in the global economy.
Now is the time to seize this opportunity and build a binational community that sets a global example for collaboration, innovation, and sustainable development.
Together, we can create a future where the Texas-Mexico relationship is stronger than ever, and where both regions prosper in an increasingly competitive world. Let’s ensure that San Antonio, Texas, and Mexico lead the way into a new era of growth and prosperity.
WOMEN DIPLOMATS,
HIDDEN FIGURES
BY: ALICIA G. KERBER PALMA
OYERVIDES
The significant challenges on today´s international agenda demand the deployment of diplomatic efforts to confront them. Attention to the devastating consequences of climate change, the global dynamics of human mobility, the aftermath of the pandemic, the food crisis, and the questioning of the effectiveness of the multilateral system require effective and high-level actions from government representatives.
Ahead of a man’s steps are always the steps of a woman”
Throughout history, diplomacy has been wrongly conceived as a profession exclusive to men while women occupied the roles of assistants or advisors to ambassadors. The power structures that existed before the feminist movement of the sixties reinforced gender inequalities and discriminatory practices, making it difficult for women to access decision-making positions, including the diplomatic field.
According to UN data, only two out of ten jobs in fields such as science, technology, and engineering are held by women and two-thirds of the global female population still lack reading and writing skills. Despite the progress made in the inclusion of women in political roles, their representation in parliamentary seats barely reaches 23.7% and they occupy less than a third of management positions at middle and upper levels globally.
In the international arena, the underrepresentation of women in the diplomatic field is evident in international organizations, where men occupy more than 80% of the presidencies of these bodies, many of which have never been headed by a woman, such as the UN, the OAS, the ILO, and the IDB.
Additionally, in the great majority of the governing bodies of international organizations, where resolutions are approved and decisions of general interest are made, governments tend to favor the appointment of male diplomats as their representatives.
In the bilateral sphere, even though there has been an increase in the consolidation of relations between countries in recent years, the underrepresentation of women as ambassadors remains a constant fact. Canada and Norway, which have adopted feminist foreign policies, are distinguished for having almost 50% of women as head of their embassies. In contrast, in the regions of Asia and the Middle East, where some countries with the largest diplomatic corps in the world are located, only 5% of their representations have a female diplomat at the forefront.
Beyond mere statistics, these figures shed a disturbing light on the profound influence of cultural, political, and social contexts on gender representation in diplomacy.
In terms of the current geopolitical context, we can confirm that those regions that are experiencing armed conflicts involve countries with the lowest number of women within their diplomatic corps.
Belonging to the career diplomatic corps of any country is synonymous with hard work, effort, and a vocation for service. For women, this path has been even more challenging as they have had to overcome obstacles inherent to a patriarchal system that has historically favored the male presence and consolidated gender stereotypes and cultural barriers.
Therefore, to talk about female diplomats is to talk about resilience, sisterhood, and intersectionality, and it is precisely this approach that prompted the Mexican Foreign Ministry to launch a program in 2024 that, based on specific affirmative actions, seeks to accelerate equality to facilitate the rise of women in
Women in Diplomacy:
• In 2024, five women were appointed as Mexican consuls in the U.S. to achieve gender parity across the network.
leadership positions within the Mexican Foreign Service.
There is undoubtedly much more to be done, but to achieve gender equality, national actions are not enough. The commitment to gender equality must be translated into concrete and sustainable actions within international structures and must guarantee, for the benefit of world peace, that female diplomats are able to occupy strategic positions within governing bodies and international organizations.
Those of us who have embraced the diplomatic career as a way of life have faced situations throughout our careers that have limited or even threatened our career prospects. In this sense, the support of other women in the profession is essential to dismantling patriarchal and/ or discriminatory patterns and allowing us to decisively advance an inclusive and equal gender-focused agenda to break the glass ceiling once and for all. *Ambassador Alicia
is a
G. Kerber Palma,
member of the Mexican Foreign Service, Consul General of Mexico in San Diego
ELENA GARRO
PHOTOART: ALEJANDRO
THE OTHER CONQUEST OF TIJUANA BEGAN ON MAY 5, 1989, JUST MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA WAS SIGNED.
The venue closed in 1994 and is part of the cross-border cultural interventions that shaped Tijuana at that time.
That day, the Iguanas bar opened in Pueblo Amigo, a semi-abandoned shopping center across from the international crossing. Jane’s Addiction, the godfathers of alternative rock, performed. The establishment was described by the LA Times as “bizarre, where almost anything goes.” Fifteen minutes from San Diego, “but light years away from most other clubs.”
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Ramones, Nine Inch Nails, and other bands that would later become famous also played at Iguanas. Between 1990 and 1991, Nirvana performed there three times— it was their first venue in Latin America and the only one they played in Mexico.
Ten years after an intensely modern transculturation, a Spanish businessman involved in fraud and linked to Iberdrola dubbed Tijuana: the Third Nation.
*
Soundscapes cross borders in an eternal recurrence. Music evolves in concentric circles, mutating in a spiral.
In the 1960s, groups in Tijuana emerged singing Spanish versions of American or British hits.
Los Freddy’s, rockers in bow ties and suits, popularized Lupe (Hang on Sloopy, The McCoys), while Javier Bátiz, in leather and dark glasses, gave a tropical twist to The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals.
In those years, local broadcast TV
The best thing about San Diego is Tijuana. Here
in
Tijuana, there's freedom everywhere.’
had only one channel in Spanish, while radio stations were in English. The city was a sponge that shamelessly absorbed American music.
This phenomenon, symptomatic of a border condition, charted a creative path that, decades later, would cross other frontiers.
*
In the 1990s, the U.S. political imaginary was shaped by globalization, multiculturalism, and cable TV. Clinton was called “the MTV president.”
The Democratic Party welcomed an elite consensus centered on free markets. Its idea of social justice was focused on promoting personal economic success.
The Republican Party, on the other hand, left behind postwar discourse, revealed the limitations of its poli -
cies abroad, and sowed the seeds of the populist revolution that Trump embodies today.
In this decade, the roles of the left and the right began to invert, and the entertainment world concealed this transposition. How did it do it? By liberalizing its content. Hypersexualizing and hyper-violencing it.
TV shows like Wild On, WWE, or Jerry Springer—the TV we grew up with in Tijuana—are the best portrait of the U.S. during that time.
*
InSite, a binational project dedicated to producing public artwork at the border, set the tone for recognizing Tijuana as a paradigm of hybrid culture.
This program brought together, in five editions from 1992 to 2005, ar -
In a metallic whisper, the barbed wire murmurs: This is where your body ends.’
tists, the vast majority of whom were foreign and/or working in the U.S., to intervene primarily in Tijuana’s public spaces.
With funding from American organizations and foundations, InSite, in some ways, exoticized the border condition by often superficially pointing out the complex relationship between the two countries.
At one of its events, the “world’s most famous human cannonball,” Dave Smith, was shot from one side
of the border to the other.
Venezuelan artist Javier Téllez had gathered a group of Mexican psychiatric patients for the launch.
The event acquired the character of a semi-massive spectacle, which was also attended by filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu and actor Gael García Bernal, who were filming a movie nearby.
One of the goals of this and other pieces was to explore the artistic possibilities offered by the “laboratory of postmodernity,” as Néstor García Canclini called Tijuana in Hybrid Cultures (1990), a book that popularized Cultural Studies. García Canclini celebrated Latin America’s entry into modernity through new technologies, the reordering of public spaces, and the deterritorialization of symbolic processes.
InSite and other initiatives of its kind, based on some of these ideas, legitimized the border territory for foreign investment, romanticizing the asymmetries between the two countries.
To be continued.
BORDER FACTS
LA MERA MERA SONG BY JUAN GABRIEL
DREAMS, MARLON PV, TIJUANA POET
BY: JUAN CARLOS REYNA ILUSTRATION: NELLY VEGA
Tijuana has inspired countless
such as Tijuana Makes me Happy by Nortec Collective and Contrabando y Traición by Los Tigres del Norte.
Prologue to the first
book on Claudia Sheinbaum’s Campaign for the Presidency of Mexico
Carlos Navarro, a Heraldo Media Group reporter, used to have nightmares during the presidential campaign. He dreamed of missing flights after covering rallies or of his taxi careening off a cliff as it navigated the winding roads of some desolate state, rushing to the airport to get to another region still plagued by insecurity. These dreams weren’t unfounded; he had nearly faced these situations more than once in his hurry to make it to another political event the same afternoon, part of his assignment from our editorial team: following presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum like a shadow.
Navarro belongs to a new generation of multimedia journalists who don’t back down. In a single day, he would take up to six calls to deliver radio reports for various news shows, make two or three live appearances on different TV programs, send the necessary articles to feed the digital news portal and wrap up his day with a solid feature or interview for the print edition. And yes, all of this, along with the logistics, was covered by the media company.
But it’s worth noting that it was only possible thanks to the reporter’s skills and determination. Unlike older times, Navarro didn’t benefit from the campaign perks once extended to the press campaign teams used to ferry reporters alongside candidates, providing other luxuries. Thankfully for journalism, that’s now history. Sheinbaum became the second presidential candidate, after Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to swap private jets for commercial flights during the campaign and to use cars instead of helicopters for travel. The historic outcome of nearly 36 million votes Sheinbaum secured in the June 2,
2024 election wasn’t a stroke of luck. Though she received the symbolic baton of power from the most popular president in recent history and was bolstered by social programs for low-income individuals, the candidate earned her place by traveling to all 31 states of the country and Mexico City, sometimes visiting key regions like Yucatán, the only southern state Morena had yet to win, four or five times. She did so with a personal and grassroots approach, and Navarro was almost always there to provide in-depth coverage on all of the media group’s platforms.
Driven by professional ambition, this Carlos Septién School of Journalism graduate sacrificed sleep to take notes in a second notebook in addition to the one he used for daily reporting. His goal was to provide a comprehensive chronicle that, over time, would become both memorable and invaluable. Not only because he followed the first woman president across the country before she came to power but because he consistently dug deeper to uncover more than the obvious, an increasingly rare quality in today’s journalism, where young people often produce short stories for social media, quickly drowned out by the digital boom. Paper, with its distinctive smell and permanence, no longer seduces them as a medium for documenting history. That’s why Navarro is an outlier among his peers.
I like this Carlos Navarro. He followed Sheinbaum during the campaign and Morena’s internal race, covering nearly 110,000 kilometers while trailing her every step. He already knew her well politically, having covered her candidacy for Mexico City’s mayoral race and her tenure as head of the local government. Following the paper’s relaunch, he joined El Heraldo de México in 2017 to cover an electoral process. His skills and dedication earned him the position. As he said, he was destined to follow Sheinbaum’s path to the National Palace, and an inner voice urged him to write this book. I spoke with him almost every Saturday and Sunday at 7 a.m. on El Heraldo Radio’s weekend news show, discussing the activities of the woman becoming the frontrunner for Mexico’s first female presidency.
The few times he didn’t answer were because he was soaring through the clouds alongside the candidate. admire his drive to find unique details or perspectives and to push boundaries in pursuit of something new for his audience. For example, the time he set out for a five-minute interview during a short drive in Sheinbaum’s Aveo and ended up with a 25-minute conversation. He paints vivid pictures, describing the plastic organizers, notebooks, and magazines
It’s time for women because, after more than 200 years of independent Mexico, a woman has never led the nation.”
stashed in the car’s seatback pockets, before getting straight to the point:
-Why is it time for women? he asked her.
-“It’s time for women because, after more than 200 years of independent Mexico, a woman has never led the nation.”
Sometimes, Sheinbaum’s answers came as she gazed out the window, only to quickly return to the topic, discussing other issues like her rivalry with the disgruntled and defeated Marcelo Ebrard. But Sheinbaum was clear: her candidacy wasn’t a personal achievement. It was a reaffirmation of women’s historical struggle in a patriarchal society resistant to change, one reluctant to share power with the opposite gender. Claudia Sheinbaum will go down in history as the face of power in Mexico, and in Navarro’s chronicles of each municipality and electoral district she visited, he emphasizes this, bringing in voices from everyday citizens, details you’ll have the chance to explore further in the book.
In the book’s pages, the author avoids using adjectives, staying true to the craft of journalism by simply describing events and gradually leading us to deeper insights. He introduces us to little-known scenes, like Sheinbaum’s return, after 30 years, to the village that inspired her thesis in Physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). With that work, she helped change lives in a mountainous region of Michoacán, where she proposed a design for more efficient wood-burning stoves with
THE FIRST
chimneys to reduce eye and respiratory diseases caused by indoor smoke.
On her return visit, there was music, fireworks, and torrential rain—a rare occurrence for a place that hadn’t seen rain for months—despite the community’s prayers. As they had once called former President Lázaro Cárdenas “Tata,” the Purépecha people dubbed Claudia Sheinbaum “Nana Claudia.” In their native language, “Nana” translates to “Lady” in Spanish. Before she left that day, she learned that many girls born in the mountains after her first visit had been named Claudia.Carlos Navarro’s journalistic work offers glimpses into the profile of Mexico’s first woman president, who had been connected with the people and communities since her student days. Throughout her nationwide campaign, she moved seamlessly, often dressed simply, with her signature ponytail, which inspired ad campaigns. Navarro doesn’t glorify or judge her character, whether he’s discussing her marriage to her former university classmate, Jesús María Tarriba, whom she reconnected with through a Facebook friend request years later, or her calm demeanor in the face of fierce opposition within her party during the race for the top spot in the Fourth Transformation. Sheinbaum isn’t vengeful; she gives her rivals time, understanding that they already bear the weight of their shattered dignity after the internal contest. Her focus remains on unity and the larger project, allowing them the space to reemerge within the party. As the weeks pass, they cautiously surface—first sending representatives to rallies, then eventually appearing in person at public events—where they raise her hand in victory, praising the woman who had become Mexico’s first female president.
I don’t want to spoil Navarro’s work, but it’s worth offering an insight into this book’s content. It has no grand pretensions other than to elevate the everyday work of a reporter to a higher level, showing the challenges and commitments Claudia Sheinbaum faces as the first woman to hold the presidency. This historic achievement comes at the worst possible time to govern Mexico, given the levels of violence and social inequality. But Navarro suggests we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, her presidency will succeed, as that would be the best outcome for all Mexicans, regardless of ideology. As for Carlos Navarro, the most important thing for a journalist is to witness history, and he fulfilled that mission during the most crucial election process of recent times. His journey is just beginning, and so are his pen and two notebooks.
WOMAN PRESIDENT
