The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, while meeting with citizens in Mexico City was grabbed by a man, raising concerns about presidential security and the continued harassment faced by women in the country.
A video from Tuesday shows a man, apparently drunk, trying to kiss the president on the neck and hugging her from behind.
She quickly removed his hands and turned to face him before an official intervened and blocked the man.
As he was being led away, Sheinbaum was seen smiling slightly and saying, “Don’t worry.” State police later confirmed the man’s arrest.
Commentators said the episode shows that no woman, not even the president of Mexico, is immune from harassment.
“Even if you are president, any man believes he has the right to touch you,” said Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, a journalist for the feminist outlet Volcánicas. “When they ask what patriarchy is, this is it.”
The incident also raised questions about Sheinbaum’s safety. His equipment was not clearly visible in the images and it took several seconds before anyone reacted.
It comes days after Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, a popular mayor, was murdered during Day of the Dead celebrations in Uruapan, Michoacán.
He was shot seven times at point-blank range before the gunman was killed. Before his death, Manzo Rodríguez had publicly asked the president of Mexico for help against local criminal groups.
He is the latest in a series of officials murdered in Mexico. During the 2024 electoral campaign, 37 candidates were assassinated and since Sheinbaum’s government began on October 1, 10 municipal presidents have also been assassinated.
While local leaders are often targeted, high-level officials have also faced threats.
In 1994, presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was assassinated at a rally in Tijuana. In 2020, the Jalisco cartel attempted to kill Omar García Harfuch, Sheinbaum’s current security secretary, in a daytime attack in Mexico City.
Sheinbaum herself faced a scare last year during her campaign in Chiapas, when masked men stopped her vehicle to demand action against violence before letting her go.
Like his predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president has preferred to maintain close contact with the public and maintain lighter security. But the latest incident may make her reconsider.
“With a little luck [the presidency will press charges]and the president will send a clear message: no man has the right to kiss or touch a woman without her consent,” wrote Alejandra Escobar, editorial director of Ectétera, in [her assistants]: It is not acceptable for her to be so exposed.”
(The UK Guardian)
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