Mexico will almost certainly have its first female president in 2024, after the governing Morena party and the opposition coalition both chose women as their candidates.

Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was named Morena’s candidate on Wednesday, despite runner-up Marcelo Ebrard’s last-minute denouncement of the process and demand for it to be redone.

Sheinbaum is a climate scientist-turned-politician who was widely believed to be the preferred choice of president Andrés Manuel López Obrador who is unable to run again.

Gálvez is a businesswoman who became a senator in 2018 and has seized media attention with her aspirational story of growing up with an Indigenous father and mestizo mother in Hidalgo state, before working her way through public university and into business and politics.

    • Mirodir@lemmy.fmhy.net
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      1 year ago

      Angela Merkel is a famous example of someone who has a doctorate in quantum chemistry and was a researcher before turning to politics.

      • Chariotwheel@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It helped in some cases. E.g. the first thing the government did when faced with Covid was to ask experts and put it into the hand of the RKI with several people familiar with coronaviruses.

        However, in other instances she understood the science and just chose to ignore it because of politics.

        Understanding science is good, but you still need to act accordingly.

    • ChiwaWithMujicanoHat@mujico.org
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      1 year ago

      Ideally a scientist would operate politically on the basis of improving society though objective, measurable and honest actions, however Sheinbaum is corrupt as they come, she’s pretty smart but she’s basically sold her soul to her party, which was founded by the current Mexican president, who has been dismantling as many autonomous bodies for checks and balances as well as transparency institutions as he can.

      Sheinbaum is very likely to win since the president has a 2-3 hour live propaganda show almost every morning where he attacks journalists and the opposition and he makes cringe jokes.

      We’ll have to see if once she gets executive power she starts acting for the betterment of society or if she continues following AMLO

      • victron@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        You’re right on the money. She has always failed to distance from AMLO, since he basically appointed her as the Mexico City Mayor to begin with. I really hope, when the time comes, she distances herself from him. Fingers crossed.

    • Greg@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      I totally agree, but why would a good scientist stop researching?

      Also we are speaking about real scientists, not the one mentioned in the article.

      • bstix@feddit.dk
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        1 year ago

        What do you mean “real” scientists?

        She has a PhD in energy engineering and physics.