MEXICO CITY, Mexico: Mexican opposition senator Xochitl Galvez, 60, threw her hat into the presidential ring on Tuesday, setting up a two-woman race against former mayor Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling party.
Galvez, a businesswoman, who represents the opposition coalition of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, has indigenous roots. She has officially registered her candidacy with the electoral commission INE, the entity said.
Galvez represents an opposition coalition made up of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the conservative National Action Party and the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party. The Institutional Revolutionary Party alone ruled the country for more than 70 years until 2000.
She was born to an indigenous Otomi father and a mixed-race mother. Her first name means “flower” in the indigenous Nahuatl language, and her background distinguishes her from the traditional conservative opposition.
She uses profanity-laced colloquialisms, wears indigenous clothing, and is known to travel around Mexico City by bicycle.
Galvez, a computer engineer by training, has criticized incumbent President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s security strategy and vowed to end what she describes as “tolerance” of drug cartels.
She has announced that she will welcome foreign investment, end fossil fuel extraction and reduce the role of the armed forces, which have expanded significantly under Lopez Obrador.
Galvez’s main rival, Sheinbaum (61), registered her own candidacy on Sunday.
Sheinbaum is a member of Lopez Obrador Moreno’s ruling party and is the favorite to win the June 2 vote, according to polls.
The election campaign starts on March 1.
