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It is not usual in this type of event, but the question generated a more enthusiastic reaction than the answers. This Wednesday, at the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico, the director of this newspaper, Pepa Bueno, spoke with the vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, and the head of the Government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, about the challenges of women in Latin America. In the middle of the conversation, he released the comment that generated applause mixed with a laugh in the audience, composed mostly of women: "A few days ago, the second vice president of the Government of Spain caused a huge controversy there because she said: 'Left-wing men believe that they are not sexist because they are left', "he said before launching the question: "Directly, Mrs. Marquez: Is Petro a feminist?"
— Hahahaha More laughter in the auditorium.
The question, of course, was later directed to the head of government of the Mexican capital, with its corresponding new applause in the audience: "Is López Obrador macho?" Later we will go to the answers, but let's see first who it was aimed at: two women with power who represent governments that define themselves as leftist, but whose leaders have been questioned for their position regarding women's movements and their demands. In the case of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he has had explicit confrontations with the powerful feminist collectives of the country and also with women in high positions but who do not agree with him, the most recent with the president of the Supreme Court, the progressive Norma Piña.
Gustavo Petro, for his part, has had an ambiguous and tense relationship with feminist movements. She lost the support of many of them in 2019 when she supported a mayoral candidate who had been accused of gender-based violence. As president, criticism from women recently halted his attempt to promote a professor accused of sexual harassment in a diplomatic post. He has not entered into confrontation with feminist groups such as López Obrador, but they are cautiously monitoring his movements as when he recently put that former candidate who cost him support in the past in a high managerial position of RTVC, the public television and radio company.
Claudia Sheinbaum, Pepa Bueno and Francia Márquez, during the dialogue 'Women of America for rights and well-being', in Mexico City, on May 31, 2023.Gladys Serrano
Now, let's go to the answers. The first to answer was Vice President Marquez, who urged that Petro be asked directly. "I'm not the one who should answer, I think it's him," he began. What followed was an explicit recognition that machismo and patriarchy are in all areas of our society and that, if we do not assume it, we will not be able to transform it. "Machismo and patriarchy cuts across all men and, of course, many times also across us as women," she said. "Until we deconstruct these structures, machismo will continue to be in all areas of society, our politics, our governments and in our homes."
The head of the Mexico City government, for her part, did not say directly if López Obrador is a feminist, but she did quote her mentor as saying that the project she leads is. "López Obrador said that the Fourth Transformation is already feminist," said the mayor, in a phrase that sounded like a political speech and was also received with applause from the audience. Sheinbaum, who is the candidate best placed to succeed López Obrador himself in the 2024 elections, also defended that, during his mandate, there have been more women in positions of election and decision than ever.
So much for what was said. But the public's reaction to the event probably says as much or more than the answers. The expectation, applause and laughter of an audience composed mainly of women before the reflection of Spanish politics are a symbol of those who intuit – we intuit – what they will have had to endure and silence in their career (at school, in politics, in the social struggle ...) to two women who have reached the positions of Márquez and Sheinbaum by many men who define themselves as progressives.
Without personalizing her criticism in anyone, Yolanda Díaz, the second Spanish vice president to whom Pepa Bueno referred in her question, was more direct: "The men of the left are a rock. They believe that they are not sexist because they are leftist," he said in the interview in which he released the controversial statements. "Men in our country should reflect and take very seriously the social changes that are taking place in Spain and in the world," he continued, and proposed that they raise their voices when they witness situations of discrimination against women.
A recommendation that can be perfectly applied to the men of this region. I wonder if the South American leaders who met this week in Brasilia at an informal summit convened by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva thought about questioning the lack of absolute representation of women. The image of male leaders representing the continent is not new. We saw it recently at the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo, as my colleague Sonia Corona analyzed in this newsletter. On that occasion, Petro mentioned the absence of female presidents in his greeting and the president of Chile, also leftist Gabriel Boric, put on the table the inclusion of women and stressed the importance of recognizing the work of care that generally falls on them.
Nicolas Maduro, Chan Santokhi, Irfaan Ali, Gustavo Petro, Luis Arce, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Alberto Fernandez, Gabriel Boric, Guillermo Lasso, Mario Abdo Benitez, Luis Lacalle Pou and Alberto Otarola, in Brasilia, on Tuesday in Brasilia.EVARISTO SA (AFP)
That men recognize discrimination based on gender, as Francia Márquez said, and denounce it, as Yolanda Díaz proposed, should be the first step. But to change things, women have to be represented in decision-making positions in all areas, including summits like the one in Brasilia. But that's not enough either. We must put measures towards equality and against all types of violence and discrimination based on gender. "We must fight for great rights, for substantive equality for women," Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday. "We have to lead the profound transformations that our society requires," agreed the Colombian vice president. "We don't come to these spaces of power just to be decorative figures or vases."