Mexico’s presidential candidates have wrapped up a turbulent and violent campaign ahead of Sunday’s election, each claiming to be the guardian of democracy amid fierce debate over the future of the country’s political system.
Polls show that the ruling party’s Claudia Sheinbaum, a leftwing former climate scientist, has a double-digit lead over self-made businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez in the contest to become president. The race is the most important in Mexico’s largest-ever election, when voters will also pick regional governors, a new congress and thousands of local officials.
The poll comes as the US’s largest trading partner scents opportunity to attract more investment amid Washington’s trade tensions with China. But the country is also struggling to deal with increasing violence and organised crime.
Sheinbaum, previously mayor of Mexico City, addressed supporters in the capital’s main square on Wednesday, promising to maintain the policies of her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“The fact that there will now be a feminine image in a machista country where women are constantly violated, it is a good step,” said Maira Ramírez, a 22-year-old student from Mexico City.
The election is also seen as a plebiscite on the policies of López Obrador, who increased cash handouts to some social groups, built infrastructure including a new train line in the south and raised the minimum wage, helping to keep his approval ratings in the mid-60s.
In a street near Sheinbaum’s rally on Wednesday, Ruben Limón, a 52-year-old security guard from the eastern city of Puebla, said he thought López Obrador had helped poorer people and wanted more of the same.