The president insinuates that the Mexican feminist movement has become an opposition movement to his Administration
A day after dozens of women marched through the center of Mexico City demanding the right to abortion and the end of gender violence, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has criticized the Mexican feminist movement, which he has classified as “conservative ”. In his morning press conference this Wednesday, the president has affirmed that the movement intends to “affect” his government and has accused him of responding to interests contrary to his administration. “You have to see what is behind it, because about two years ago when the feminist movement began, many women participated, but they began to realize that they had become conservative feminists just to affect us, just for that purpose. ”, Said the president
It is not the first time that López Obrador has criticized the women who demonstrate, but this time he has hinted that Mexican feminism has become directly an opposition movement to his Government. The president has specifically focused on acts of vandalism recorded during the demonstration on Tuesday, claiming that it is a provocation. López Obrador has tried to minimize feminist protests and has said that few people participated in them: “There are more journalists” than protesters, he said. “It [should not be] given so much importance because they are demonstrations that, for the same reason, summon very few people, because of course women participate when it comes to a just cause, but when they know that it is to destroy and to carry out violent acts because they do not participate, so very few are left in this case,
The president attributes the criticism of his administration to a conservative movement with interests vested in other power groups. “It gives me mistrust. You see that it usually happens that the ends meet, they touch. I see these movements as very conservative, very conservative, perhaps because I have another formation, ”said López Obrador.
Mexico is a violent country for women. Data from the Ministry of Public Security show that in the first five months of this year, femicides have increased by 7.1% compared to the same period in 2020. Between January and May, 423 women have been murdered in the country, which has one of the highest femicide rates on the continent: 10 women murdered a day. Regarding violations, the same source affirms that in that period there was an increase of 30%. In addition to violence, women also suffer impunity, because in Mexico justice leaves 90% of femicides unrepaired.
AMLO’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL PHRASES ABOUT FEMINIST MOVEMENTS
“I do not want the issue to be nothing more than femicide”
At the beginning of last year, after the head of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), Alejandro Gertz Manero, attended the president’s classic morning conference to explain a reform to the crime of femicide, and reporters asked him all your doubts; López Obrador indicated that he did not want everything that was talked about in the media to be only about this issue, when according to data from the Executive Secretariat, in 2020 there were 940 cases.
* From minute 44:44 AMLO says this phrase
“Look, I do not want the issue to be nothing more than femicide, it is already very clear. Much has been manipulated on this matter in the media, not all of course, those who do not see us with good eyes take advantage of any circumstance to generate defamation campaigns, that of course, of distortion, false information. This is the case, ” said the Tabasco on February 10, 2020.
“Dont dress up as feminists”
One of the most remembered phrases that Andrés Manuel López Obrador said was when he pointed out and asked his political rivals not to pose as feminists. Yes, this happened on February 25, 2020, after a reporter asked him if his government would campaign against machismo, to which he replied yes. However, he also took the opportunity to indicate that they were not macho, but that the conservatives were, so he asked them to stop dressing up as feminists .
* From minute 01:35:08 AMLO says this phrase
“Do you know where the machismo is? Who are the machistas and those who discriminate? The conservatives (…) If they have problems with us, that they do not disguise themselves as feminists, because that is even immoral, besides, why get involved in a legitimate movement to grab flags because they are against us? ” AMLO said on that occasion.
“90% of those reports are false”
Another of AMLO’s phrases that caused several feminist groups to criticize him was when he indicated that almost all the calls that have been made for violence against women in our country are false. Although later he added that this did not mean that there was no physical or psychological abuse against them.
* From minute 02:07:06 AMLO says this phrase
“I am going to give you another piece of information, which does not mean that violence against women does not exist because I do not want them to misinterpret me, because many times what I say is taken out of context. 90 percent of those calls that serve you as a base, are false, it is proven; and this is not only because they are calls that have to do with mistreatment of women, this happens the same in the calls that the Metro receives about sabotage, about bombs, “ commented AMLO in his classic morning of May 15.
“There are infiltrators who use feminism”
On September 25, 2020, on the occasion of Orange Day, the date on which the UN decided to carry out a campaign against violence against women, they asked him what actions his government has taken regarding this situation, to which he replied that they did everything possible to ensure that there were no more femicides. Later AMLO took advantage and indicated again that there were conservatives infiltrated in the feminist movement.
* From minute 01:38:38 AMLO comments on this
“There is also a lot of hypocrisy in all this, of course it is a just cause, but there are infiltrated people who are against us who use feminism to attack us, even very conservative people, “ said AMLO in another of his controversial phrases about the feminist movements.
“Ya chole”
With the recent candidacy of Félix Salgado Macedonio to the governorship of Guerrero and representing Morena, as well as with the complaints of rape and sexual abuse of women against this politician, in social networks, women and feminist groups began to criticize both the Felix Salgado and to the president for the support he was giving him with the hashtag #PresidenteRompaElPacto. Although what no one expected was the answer that AMLO would give: “Ya chole” , because he assured that it was only a campaign of the conservatives and the media.
* From minute 01:47:18 AMLO says this phrase
“So now, as some say, right? ‘Ya chole’. In other words, because they are going to campaign in the media that the Reform, that El Universal, that radio programs, as it was before, radio hosts, with experts, with analysts, pontificating, sentencing, judging. If we suffered from that for years, attacks after attacks, ”AMLO said on February 18.
“What’s this ‘rompe el pacto thing?”
As it turns out, Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not understand what #PresidenteRompaElPacto was in relation to the case of Salgado Macedonio, so he confessed in his morning conference on February 25 that he had to ask his wife Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller what was it about.
* From minute 01:14:10 AMLO says this phrase
“Now with the feminism simulation I start to hear: ‘Break the pact, break the pact, break the pact.’ I tell you sincerely, and I’m not lying, I found out what that was five days ago, because my wife told me. I say: Hey, what is this “break the pact”? Explain to me; and he already told me: ‘Break the patriarchal pact, that is, stop supporting men’ “, this was the most recent controversial phrase by López Obrador and with which he won the criticism of women and feminist groups because it also said this expression was imported.
Source: elpais.com, sopitas.com
