Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, stated that, throughout history, no government like those of the Fourth Transformation has recognized the contributions of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, respecting and defending their rights, as well as recognizing their contributions to the country’s natural wealth, which has become a fundamental pillar of Mexican humanism.
She made the statement at the Guelaguetza Auditorium in the city of Oaxaca, where she appeared as part of her accountability tour, titled Honesty and Results, which is being held in all the states of the Republic. During the event, she highlighted the significant contributions that Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples have made to the Mexico in which we live.
She pointed out that it is an obligation of all Mexicans, including those who acquire Mexican nationality, to “recognize the cultural greatness of Mexico in its peoples, in Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples.” She emphasized that all of this has been recognized through the constitutional reforms carried out in 2024, through which they were recognized as subjects of public law.
Furthermore, she said that this recognition means that, for the first time in history, through the Social Infrastructure Fund for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples, all Indigenous communities receive a direct budget, separate from the budgets exercised at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
She added that the goal is to elevate this fund to constitutional status so that Indigenous peoples will always have an established resource for their development, regardless of who is in charge of the government.
Proposes Mexican nationality for candidates for public office
Sheinbaum Pardo, who was accompanied by several cabinet secretaries, including Rosa Icela Rodríguez, Secretary of the Interior, and Mario Delgado, Secretary of Public Education, emphasized that it is extremely important to her that anyone seeking the presidency or the position of governor of any state be a Mexican national.
She clarified that all Mexicans have the option of holding one, two, or even three nationalities, but if they seek to compete for a position of this type, they must have only Mexican nationality, because “if you want to be president of Mexico, you can only swear allegiance to one flag, you can only swear allegiance to one people, the people of Mexico and the national flag.”
She added that when leading the country or a state, it is extremely important that the commitment be to the people of Mexico and not to another country. She also emphasized that only Mexicans have the right to decide the destiny of the homeland, thereby rejecting interventionism that other nations or groups of power seek to promote on national territory.
While delivering her second annual report, the President acknowledged that there is still much to be done, since the damage caused by neoliberal governments has been profound, but the Fourth Transformation has sought to reverse it through social programs, which, she said, are a way of demonstrating love for the people of Mexico.
Differences with teachers
On the other hand, Mexico’s president pledged to continue the school uniform program for basic education students, along with educational scholarships. Although she said there are disagreements with the leadership of Section 22 of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), she recognized the great effort that teachers make every day in favor of the education of girls and boys.
Meanwhile, teachers from Section 22 held a march that began at the Fonapaz intersection and headed toward the Guelaguetza Auditorium, where the event led by the President was to take place. However, upon reaching the intersection of Calzada Héroes de Chapultepec and Crespo, the teachers clashed with plainclothes police officers, state government employees, and members of the Alliance of Unions and Associations of the State of Oaxaca (ASAEO), who had been instructed to prevent the teachers from advancing.
The teachers knocked down the metal barricades and continued forward amid thrown stones and pushing until they reached the auditorium, where the President arrived minutes later.
After a series of blows and one teacher suffering an injury to his right hand, the teachers issued a statement in which the general secretary, Yenny Aracely Pérez, criticized the fact that the second report contained no information about dignified retirement for workers. She recalled that the Coordinator’s struggle is for the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law.
During the altercation, several journalists accused officials from the local Congress, as well as from the Oaxaca de Juárez municipal government and the state government, of assaulting and threatening those covering the teachers’ mobilization, including pushing them and attempting to intimidate them.
Source: jornada
