"A stalker should not be an ambassador": feminist groups rearm against the new position of historian Pedro Salmerón

The historian Pedro Salmerón, in February 2021. Aurea Del Rosario

The Foreign Ministry released on Monday a list of the 16 new Mexican ambassadors in key positions in Latin America and Europe, and among them was an unexpected name: Pedro Agustín Salmerón. The historian and academic faithful to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with no diplomatic career -as has happened with half of the appointments-, aspires to occupy the representation of the country in Panama, unless prevented by the Senate, which must ratify the list. A few minutes after hearing the news, feminist groups and especially those made up of university students and former students of Salmerón have inflamed the networks. Salmerón, in addition to being recognized as one of the greatest experts on the Mexican Revolution,He has been carrying at least one formal accusation of sexual harassment and a handful of other alleged anonymous victims for years.

Despite the fact that the historian has insisted since the scandal was uncovered, in 2019 —in the middle of the Mexican Me Too—, that everything was a defamation campaign and that this Tuesday, once again, he declared his innocence, the feminist groups of Mexico, with a historical power, have shown their teeth. Salmerón, in addition to being accused publicly and on social networks, received an internal accusation at the private university where he worked, ITAM, which cost him his resignation. The institution came to recognize that there was evidence that he had harassed at least one student in his Mexican History class, but the ruling and possible sanction came after he voluntarily left office amid controversy.

This newspaper has tried to contact the historian, but has refused to make any statement.

The academic refers to his message on Twitter that he published this Tuesday afternoon, where he refers to the fact that no one complained of sexual harassment in the student evaluations.

About “harassment”:

At ITAM, students evaluate teachers at the end of the course.

The evaluation is mandatory and anonymous.

At the end of the form there is a blank page where they freely write their observations.

(Thread with documentation):

– Pedro Salmerón Sanginés (@HistoriaPedro) January 18, 2022

Some former students consulted by EL PAÍS after the appointment acknowledge feeling disappointed with a system that "not only does not sanction machismo, but also promotes or rewards it." And they ask the Senate, especially the senators of any political sign, to stop their appointment. “It was very difficult at the time to denounce. Now with the proposal for an ambassador, he makes us see that the fact that a person has abused his power like this and that he is a constant harasser in all the universities he has been to, in his party, they give him an embassy. For the victims it is quite painful”, one of them, Karla Torres, a student in 2017 and companion of the young woman who internally denounced the teacher, tells this newspaper. And regarding Salmerón's defense, he specifies that "no student would dare to comment on that subject in a teaching evaluation,it is a very sensitive issue".

Another of the university students, who prefers not to give her name, recalls the modus operandi that others have denounced. The traditional escapades of the teacher with his class to the center of the capital that ended in a canteen. And then in a few more drinks. In the end, in touching, proposals to accompany a young woman to her house or to go with him. And these girls, no older than 20, uncomfortable with a teacher who not only had power in the classroom, but was also a public figure. “Evidence, videos, messages were presented. The institution came to recognize the tests as valid, but he was no longer in the position”, adds the student.

Salmerón's case was publicly denounced in the midst of the Mexican Me Too scandal, which joined the American movement of the same name and uncovered dozens of cases of sexual harassment and violence against women in different sectors of public life in the country. The name of the academic and ally of López Obrador resonated in the university community and although at that time the feminist groups of students pushed for his dismissal as ITAM professor, after his resignation and absence of sanction, the scandal against the historian has remained in the public eye. shade so far.

One day after the appointment of the new ambassadors, President López Obrador has endorsed Salmerón's proposal in office: “As I understand, there is no formal and legal complaint. We have to wait for evidence to be presented." The president's support for a man accused of violence against women is not something new. Last year, after the allegations of rape against the candidate for governor of Guerrero in the June elections, Félix Salgado Macedonio, the president stood firm until the end with the politician from his same party, Morena. And although in the middle of the controversy his candidacy was withdrawn, it was not because of the accusations, but because of a formal question of campaign expenses. It was his daughter, Evelyn, who replaced him and won the elections in the State.

Former federal deputy Martha Tagle and member of the feminist collective Rebeldes con Causa regrets the president's attitude towards this type of issue. “It is not the first time that he has covered up a person accused of sexual violence. He does not believe in the word of women and despite the accusations, he proposed it. The underlying problem we have is that the president is unaware of the issue of violence against women, which is why he asks for evidence, criminal proceedings, without understanding that the laws or the criminal system still do not guarantee justice,” says Tagle.

The ITAM Fourth Wave feminist organization sent a statement on Monday night that read: “Your assignment as ambassador is of great concern, since you have proven to be a person who abuses his position of power to violate women.

With his appointment, hundreds of women are put at risk of suffering gender-based violence... If the country's foreign policy is feminist, it should not be made up of stalkers, much less cover them up."

#AHarasserNoShouldBeAmbassador pic.twitter.com/rpBHsqTsGS

– Fourth Wave 💚 (@CuartaOla) January 18, 2022

The Salmerón appointment scandal comes at a defining moment for the Mexican feminist movement.

Never have feminist groups been so present in the country's public life or put the government in check as activist women's groups have been doing over the years.

López Obrador has come to brand them as allies of those who seek to overthrow his Fourth Transformation and some of the members of his party consider them the strongest opponents in the streets.

Tagle, with decades of political experience and feminist activism, acknowledges that, despite the fact that it is very possible that the Senate —controlled by Morena— will ratify the president's decision, “without a doubt there is a public and social sanction of the issue that did not exist before.

And this is important."

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