In response to accusations that she was a "Bulgarian Jew" from political detractors during the presidential election, she released her birth certificate, establishing she was born in 1962 in Mexico City, the same city she would eventually spend a half decade serving as the head the government. Her parents were leftist faculty whose families had immigrated to escape WWII conflict. She followed in their academic footsteps, abandoning ballet for a degree in physics and going on to earn a Ph.D. in energy engineering while at Berkeley Lab, in California, where she had relocated for 4 years with her husband and two kids.
In 2000, she was appointed by Obrador (AMLO) as Secretary of the Environment, originally tasked to decrease urban air pollution, she was also roped into improving mass transit infrastructure in Mexico City when AMLO began a public works project constructing a "second floor" to the perimeter highway. She also found time to collaborate with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), writing a chapter of the report which went on to win a Nobel peace prize. All the while, worrying as a mother of two about childcare pickup and drop off logistics. When Obrador narrowly lost his bid for the 2006 presidential election, Claudia further endeared herself to him by assembling a team to use her mathematical skills to investigate how the electoral fraud was accomplished. Then she returned to her research post at her Mexican alma mater (UNAM), publishing what would eventually amount to of over 100 co-authored articles and 2 books about energy, the environment, and sustainable development. These publications centered on the value of mass transit and investment in human rights to healthcare and education.
When Obrador's 2012 presidential bid was also defeated, he formed a leftist splinter party which Claudia joined, canvassing door to door. In Sheinbaum's case, the acronym for this new party was particularly fitting, "Morena" literally signifies a dark haired female. It can be a pet name or term of endearment and generally has neutral connotations. Morena the party nominated Claudia for mayor of the Tlalpan borough of Mexico city which she had called home for the past 30 years. She won and held the position for 2 years before resigning to run for jefa of the whole city.
In 2018, she took office as the first elected female head of government in Mexico City. Yet that may sound like more of a victory for feminism than it really was. Five of the 7 candidates in the race were women and they collectively carried 86% of the popular vote. Nineteen years prior, Rosario Robles had also held the position for 14 months, but she was an appointee and became embroiled in her party's corruption scandals causing her to sit out the subsequent election rather than win by popular vote. This paved the way for AMLO to hold the position; presiding over Mexico City until he moved onto his 2 failed and third successful presidential bids.
With Obrador presiding over the country, jefa Claudia extended the Mexico City projects she had begun 18 years prior under his appointment, following the guidance of the research articles she had published. She introduced a unified mass transit pass, extended and electrified mass transit, introduced bike lanes, bike sharing. She aspired to reduce air pollution by 30% during her term, plant 15 million trees, ban single-use plastic, build a new waste separation plant, bring water service to all residences, and install solar panels and water heaters.
Meanwhile, she nearly halved the homicide rate in Mexico city during her term by encarcerating corrupt cops, empowering the police and enhancing their coordination with the district attorney. Her cash for firearms program took 6,500 weapons off the street. She created a hotline and 700 km of safe corridors to improve security for women in public spaces. She also worked toward a universal basic income for pensioners. She showed her support for LGTBQ as the first head of government to participate in a pride march and by mandating gender neutral uniforms in state schools. She further established scholarships for 1.2 million students and established two tuition-free colleges which enroll more than 55,000. She also established pilares or community cultural centers in marginalized neighborhoods which helped level the academic playing field between rich and poor which earned a UNESCO award. Not bad for 6 years in office, don't you think?
Her track record with governing Mexico City was so strong that as AMLO reached the end of his single term limit as the president of Mexico, her party nominated her to take his place in 2024. Once again, she became the first woman elected to the position (although the nation seemed more ready for it than us Americans, her strongest rival for the position was also a woman). But Claudia won by a landslide, carrying 31/32 states and 60% of the vote which is the highest percentage ever recorded since free and fair elections began.
Her platform ran on expanding the successes she had achieved in Mexico City more broadly. Homicides dropped 25% in the first months she was in office and she shrewdly noted to American leadership that 74% of those reclaimed cartel weapons were sourced from the US. Her empowered national guard confiscated 178 tons of narcotics including 3 million doses of fentanyl. These efforts and savvy negotiation tactics enabled her to indefinitely delay US tariff threats. Domestically, she committed to extending train lines and modernizing ports, to devoting 1% of the military budget towards reforestation, and lowering oil generation targets by 10% while increasing state control of electricity generation enterprises. She is increased school investment across the board and innovatively called for additional retraining opportunities for women in their 60's. She also spearheaded house-to-house healthcare services for the elderly and disabled. From her own term-limited position, she pushes for single term limits on other elected positions and advocating that judges be selected by popular vote rather than appointment to address concerns of political corruption.
While Claudia is wise to downplay her personal life, what little that is published inspires me. Imagine becoming a stepmother at only 20 years old! Yet somehow she managed to stay on such good terms, even after the marriage (of 30 years!) dissolved, that she was informed by her stepson that she would soon be a grandmother. How sweet to then reconnect with a college sweetheart and embark on a second marriage after a 7 year engagement. To get a better sense of this legendary lady, or just to brush up on your Spanish, I recommend the 40 minute Youtube documentary, Claudia.
Maybe when she reaches her term limit in 2030, she can share her expertise to make life a little better up here in Alta California!
No comments:
Post a Comment