Máynez Concludes Presidential Campaign

As Mexico’s 2024 presidential elections approach, candidates have wrapped up their campaigns. Jorge Álvarez Máynez, the candidate for the relatively new political party Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), founded in 1999 and rebranded in 2011, is currently ranking third in election polls.

Máynez concluded his campaign in Mexico City at the BlackBerry Auditorium on Wednesday, May 29, the last official day before the three-day electoral ban for candidates, after visiting over 50 universities during the campaign. The closure was a joint event with MC’s candidate for the mayoralty of Mexico City, Salomón Chertorivski. Just days earlier, a tragic accident occurred at an event in Nuevo Leon during a presentation by Máynez, where nine people tragically lost their lives and 121 were injured after the stage collapsed due to strong winds, explained MC.

El País maintains Claudia Sheinbaum as the frontrunner in the polls. Sheinbaum leads with an average of 54% intention of vote, while Xóchitl Gálvez comes second with 36%, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez ranks last with 10%. El País estimates that Sheinbaum has a 92% probability of winning the race. However, the gap between Sheinbaum and Gálvez has narrowed throughout the campaign. Initially, Sheinbaum had a 30-point advantage over Gálvez, but this lead has reduced to 18 points.

MC and Máynez advocate for the demilitarization of Mexico. They seek a pluralistic and representative congress, as well as to reinforce the autonomy of the Judicial Branch. Economically, their goal is to consolidate a social democratic state by promoting progressive tax reform, universal basic income, and food security. They support the rights of LGBTTI+ communities, Indigenous peoples, Afro-Mexicans, and gender equality. 

MC has a strong presence in the North and West of the country, where the militarization of the country has had significant consequences in the security and safety of the population. Samuel García, governor of Nuevo Leon is a highly recognized militant of MC.

Máynez divides his proposals into three visions: A Just Mexico, A Prosperous Mexico, and An Equal Mexico.

A Just Mexico

Máynez highlights the increase in violence and denounces the security strategy of the last three administrations led by different political parties: the legacy party PRI, which ruled in Mexico for about 100 years; the more conservative Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), which was the first opposition party in the 2000s; and the party in power, MORENA. Máynez considers that past security strategies were flawed as they were based on three approaches that have had "disastrous results": punitivism, militarization, and prohibitionism.

His proposal regarding security and justice includes strengthening Mexico’s police force, demilitarizing the country, increasing justice access regardless of social condition or economic status, social reinstatement for criminals, drug regulation rather than criminalization, and transitional peace and justice including mechanisms for amnesty.

A Prosperous Mexico

Máynez considers that to materialize this vision it is necessary to “put the relationship with nature at the center… [and] understand that the sovereignty of the 21st century is in the sun, the wind and the water.” He plans to increase infrastructure investment until it reaches 4.5% of Mexico’s GDP by 2030, with 50% of the investment guided to regional growth, making tenders for public contracts transparent, building plants for the use of organic waste, rehabilitation of schools and public spaces.

Furthermore, A Prosperous Mexico includes: Caring for the land and those who work on it, a national program of entrepreneurship and innovation, sovereignty through the use of resources such as the sun, air and water, protection of migrants, and a foreign policy that recovers a symmetrical relationship with the United States.

An Equal Mexico

Máynez proposes starting with an early childhood program, “so that growing up in Mexico is totally different from what happens today,” creating universal health coverage for boys and girls between 0 and 5 years old. He also proposes helping 1 million young people to attend university and promoting programs focused on women being able to continue studying. Finally, he also supports workers to have good conditions and “a decent working day,” referring to working less hours.

His proposal in gender matters includes a National Care System, where the State provides care services for girls, boys, adolescents, older adults, sick people, and people with disabilities, as well as school programs with extended days and food service. He also proposes for women’s justice centers to be strengthened, so that, in addition to accompaniment to the criminal case, restorative justice mechanisms are implemented when victims request. Finally, he pledges to monitor the effectiveness of orders and protection measures for victims of crimes related to gender violence are effective.