For the past six months, Xóchitl Gálvez has chained himself in the Senate, disguised himself as a dinosaur, and fought a legal battle with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in court. Histrionic, provocative and straight-forward, he challenged the President again this Monday. He got on his bike early in the morning and headed to the National Palace to demand – in his political opponent’s most prized territory – his right to reply to some statements he made late last year. Gálvez criticized the government’s social programs and the President assured that she wanted to abolish them. The senator received protection from a judge to give her version, but López Obrador refused to accept it, describing the senator’s final appearance as a ploy to gain “publicity” at his morning conference.
Five hours later, Gálvez smiles mischievously and admits she’s “very stubborn” and “very bastard,” assuring rejection won’t stop her. He didn’t go in, but somehow he got what he wanted. Before the lunch break, he had already been invited to ten interviews and had thousands of followers on his social networks. “The president is locked in his palace and doesn’t want to listen to anyone,” she says in her office. “We had to put an end to this.” The senator from the National Action Party (PAN) isn’t afraid to raise her hand in 2024 either to recognize that the opposition has not yet managed to catch up with the majority of Mexicans. He says he is leading the Mexico City government in the polls but admits he started considering the presidency this week. “I know the candidacy is lost numerically today, but I’ve never won a candidacy that won,” he says. “I think about where I serve most, where I am most useful,” he adds in an interview. This is an edited version of his answers.
Questions. Today you were in front of the gates of the National Palace, how did you feel?
Answer. The President has never sat down with the opposition. I’m a senator and we’ve never had a dialogue. He made the decision to rule only for one sector, for those who think like him. I campaigned for clean energy. I am convinced that I can give the President some innovative ideas for starting the energy transition. But he just didn’t listen to me. I am the President of the Indian Affairs Commission. Instead of moving forward with constitutional reform on indigenous rights, she simply has not done so. It cut the budget of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples. So if the president doesn’t listen to the opposition, he’ll be even less likely to listen to a citizen who rose up with an amparo. A judge granted me this protection to exercise my right to reply because the President had put words in my mouth that I had never said as he was accustomed to. And I’m not ready to accept it. Therefore, I am left with a feeling of sadness.
Q Former President Vicente Fox offered to accompany her. Why was it important for you to go alone?
R Because it’s not a political issue. I don’t want the President to start talking about Fox or Marko Cortés. It’s a way to divert attention. Since this is a legal matter, all I had to do was claim protection and that was it. He says I’m campaigning, but he’s the one campaigning. He’s only thinking about that and his caps, about using the presidency to appoint his successor. That’s why he wants to put me in there. But I’m the favorite in the polls to lead Mexico City without him. I don’t need it, and I don’t need any of its popularity either.
I am a woman who has managed on her own all her life. I did not reach a political position because a man accompanies me, as is the case with Claudia [Sheinbaum]that has grown in its shadow. I came to the Fox cabinet because of the talent scouts. I became head of the delegation because I was a respected figure in Miguel Hidalgo and I won without the resources they need to win. I came here on my own. In fact, they say that I will not be the candidate because I don’t obey and I don’t discipline myself. I will always do what I think is right and not what I’m told.
Q Don’t you campaign?
R Not yet. You haven’t seen a billboard or a fence of mine in the city. Hopefully Dr. Tell Claudia one day where so much money for her campaign or Adán Augusto comes from [López] or Marcello [Ebrard]. Let them say who is paying for the campaigns, because if not, tomorrow we’ll see how they favor certain businessmen who funded them.
Q What is this lawsuit with the President about?
R That the President will stop disqualifying opponents and that they will not be able to defend themselves. Enough of the President using public resources, the National Palace, to insult his opponents. This protection is the responsibility of the President.
Q Why do you want to be prime minister?
R Because I’ve lived in the city for more than 40 years. I have come to Iztapalapa and I know its shortcomings. I had to bathe with the dirty water from the tap, experience the violence that women suffer on the streets and the difficulties with public transport. Later I became a businesswoman and moved west of the city. I know the two realities of the capital, but above all I have a technical expertise that few characters have. I also know what it’s like to make money and throw it away to pay for concerts, no matter how famous the artist is, it’s not appropriate. If there is a subway that catches fire one day and floods another day, it is due to the ineptitude of those governments that represent the group in power. You’ve ruled the city for 26 years.
Q Why Prime Minister and not another position?
R The truth is that given the little competition there is in the opposition, voices have emerged to bring this to my attention. There may be subjects I don’t know, like security or public finance. Many experts have offered me help. And it’s true, it takes good teams. I’ve always said that, not to thieves, not to idiots, not to assholes. With capable, honest and hard-working people you can of course get ahead. The president himself already unmasked me for the presidency today, although in reality the only one who unmasks me in the morning is my husband, who takes my blanket off when it’s cold (laughs).
Senator of the National Action Party Xóchitl Gálvez in her office in the Senate of the Republic in Mexico City on June 12, 2023. Aggi Garduño
Q Have you felt punished for not fitting into the mold of traditional panismo?
R Sometimes yes. I’m a progressive woman. I don’t really fight because there are things about PAN that I don’t agree with. Coming from the left, I understand that wealth creation is vital to a country’s advancement. The incumbent president only thinks about redistribution, but not about generation. This wealth will end and this model will not work. There has to be a balance. The PAN loves me very much, but as long as I don’t raise my hand for certain positions (laughs). No, I don’t feel left out.
Q What have you been told about how the Va por México candidacy is defined in the capital?
R Nothing.
Q Don’t you think they’ll be late?
R Oh well. Well, nothing was discussed about Mexico City in Morena either.
Q Why has this discussion been so pushed into the background?
R Because his rush is to unseat the presidency.
Q You said this year’s elections were a defeat for the opposition. What was missing?
R Thrill. The exciting thing is that people want to vote and people don’t want to go out and vote. This is a misleading result because Morena wasn’t enthusiastic either, but they shifted their structure. By 2024, a grand proposal for the transformation of this country must be made that can be implemented. Yes, there are many people who don’t like what they see in Morena, but neither do they like what they see in the opposition. We must work this proposal out and not split the team.
Q Is there room for Movimiento Ciudadano to join the opposition front?
R I believe that all parties and all political actors must put our personal interests aside. This week I had to say and think about whether or not I should run for President. I think about where I’m helping the most, where I’m helping the most. I know the candidacy is lost numerically today, but I’ve never won a candidacy that won.
Q Do you think the PRI and the PRD are good allies?
R All of us who are not happy with what is happening in the country need to join forces. I am not satisfied with a president who wants to establish an authoritarian regime. Aside from controversial populism, the issue of freedoms is the most dangerous for me. The issue of transparency, accountability and the fact that INAI does not work and is therefore unaccountable strikes me as extremely dangerous. I think that the arrival of the INE at the elections gave us certainty. It doesn’t matter who wins. It is important that your vote counts. So that’s what worries me about this President. It seems to me that they condemn Mexico to the past. I save his entire social policy of supporting the elderly and grants for young people. I take it back and support it, but that’s not enough for the country to move forward.
Q From the opposition’s point of view, should we be in conflict or flip the President?
R No, there is no need to fight. I didn’t fight him, but I got him out [tuvo miedo] to receive me and lamentation goes no further from there.
Q Is Va por México’s poor run affecting your goals for 2024?
R No. I am a competitive candidate and they will need the best.
Q Do you have a date in mind when you want to step down and start your campaign?
R I am now ready to separate.
Q What’s stopping her?
R That they give us clear rules so they don’t say that Xóchitl went ahead.
Q Is there an agreement with Kenya López, Santiago Taboada or other PAN contenders in Mexico City?
R Not on this subject. The only thing I said to Taboada is that we have the candidate before September.
Q What would be a good result for the opposition in 2024?
R Win the presidency, the city, Veracruz, Puebla, Guanajuato, Yucatán… and have a majority in Congress.
Q And is it possible?
R Clear. More and more people want that to change.
Q Do you have a “plan B” in case you don’t win the election?
R “Plan B” is the return to my professional life. I am very happy with the family, friends and company that I have. I wouldn’t feel frustrated or anything.
Q So is it in 2024 or not?
R So will it be.
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