Mexico’s MariChuy banks on native support
Many indigenous people see Patricio as a way to assert their own voice in politics
This is what a grass-roots campaign looks like in a country where politics has always been dominated by big spending and corrupt politicians.
First of all, almost nobody calls Maria de Jesus Patricio by her name. Everyone knows the Nahua indigenous woman by her nickname, MariChuy.
She has never worn a power suit or heels, but rather always appears in an embroidered indigenous blouse and pants or skirt. She has no political machine, unless you count the ragtag army of Zapatista rebels who have pledged their support to her in the southern state of Chiapas. She’s unlikely to win Mexico’s presidency, or even get on the ballot, yet her campaign has generated an unusual amount of enthusiasm.
Supporters from dozens of left-leaning groups in the urban sprawl of Mexico City organise coffee klatches, small concerts and neighbourhood walk-arounds for the uphill battle to sign up the 866,000 voters needed by February 12 to get her on next July’s presidential ballot as an independent candidate.
Race to the ballot
In the first week of gathering signatures, Margarita Zavala — the wife of former President Felipe Calderon and a well-known political figure in her own right — got the highest number of signatures, at 13,033. But second place was a surprise: Patricio, who has no electoral machine and was essentially unknown until she was named the candidate of the National Indigenous Congress last May, gathered 4,734 signatures.
What’s more, her backers say, she is handicapped by the fact that electoral officials use a smartphone app to record signatures, making participation difficult or impossible for many poor people in remote, indigenous regions with poor cell phone coverage.
Patricio is referred to as “the spokeswoman” for the Indigenous Governance Council, an outgrowth of the Zapatistas and other activist groups.
Mexico has about 6 million speakers of indigenous languages and about 4 million others are considered indigenous due to their communities.
Many of Mexico’s voiceless, impoverished indigenous people see Patricio as a way to assert their own voice in politics.
“We are not looking for power,” said Chiapas activist Lucia Guzman Gomez, who participated in Patricio’s campaign tour. “We are looking for a space to participate as human beings, as indigenous people.”