The day after Mexico’s leftwing ruling party Morena won a landslide victory in presidential, congressional and state elections, one executive stayed in bed all afternoon eating ice cream to try to cope. A wealthy woman in Mexico City told friends it was time to “move to the house in Houston”, while another business leader said his WhatsApp chats were marked by a mood of “collective suicide”.

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and Morena’s victory last Sunday was not a surprise, but the scale of their triumph was. Sheinbaum vaulted 31 points clear of her nearest challenger, centre-right entrepreneur Xóchitl Gálvez, and Morena is now poised to push through radical changes to the constitution after greatly increasing its majority in congress.

  • fmstratA
    16•21 days ago

    One meme posted in a 35,000-strong Facebook group supporting Gálvez vowed to stop tipping waiters, donating to victims of natural disasters or giving money to people who help park your car because “they voted for Morena, so Morena should support them now”.

    And they wonder why…

    In recent years, many Mexicans have said they try to avoid talking politics with friends, family, and colleagues for fear of pro- and anti-Morena advocates labelling the other side snobbish or resentful.

    Let’s hope our country is similar, and the votes follow suit.