A video of the incident on Tuesday shows a visibly drunk man trying to kiss the president on the neck and embrace her from behind, as she removes his hands and turns to face him, before a government official steps in and places himself between them.
“This is something I experienced as a woman, but it is something that all women in our country experience,” said Sheinbaum in her daily press conference. “If I do not file a complaint, where does that leave all Mexican women? If they do this to the president, what happens to all the other women in the country?”
Sheinbaum herself had a security scare last year while campaigning in the state of Chiapas, when masked men stopped her vehicle to ask her to address the violence in the state, before letting her move on.
Jesus christ it must be terrifying to be the president of Mexico, and doubly-so as a woman president, given how patriarchal the culture is. Sheinbaum has gotta be one of the bravest people on the planet - i’m glad such a brave and intelligent woman is in the hotseat, guiding Mexico to a more open future.
Jesus christ it must be terrifying to be the president of Mexico, and doubly-so
With the crazy on northern border.
That said, the people of Chiapas are probably more aligned with her politically than not (the Zapatista movement springs from that region, they are targeted by right-wing groups - they need protection). If she knew their intentions, I am not sure she would have been too worried. (I say this as someone who has been in a bus that was stopped by men with guns in central America, it’s maybe more common than people realize. It is scary when you don’t know what’s going to happen, though.)
I wonder why they bother to include that he was drunk. That’s usually used to excuse (or at least soften) the man’s behaviour, and I wonder if that’s true here.
Having watched the video I suspect they’re just mentioning it because it’s descriptively accurate, he stumbles and behaves in a way that shows visible drunkenness. Journalists are trained to report facts and try to remain objective. The description might also help with accessibility concerns by providing a written description of an event caught on video. Regardless of the reason, I don’t think the description is meant to be dismissive.
Of course you’re right that alcohol is commonly used as a way to excuse sexual assault, but this article if anything has the opposite aim, so it wouldn’t make sense to include that detail if they are trying to make such a big point about the threat it posed.
For example, the headline uses loaded language like “groped” rather than more neutral language, there are ways they could have presented this that would have been more dismissive if that was their aim. Even describing it as a security incident shows they aren’t intending to be dismissive.
Just prep for when she meets Trump
