The presidential candidates faced each other this Sunday, April 28 at the second presidential debatewhere they presented proposals but above all they exchanged attacks.
Claudia Sheinbaum (Morena, PT and PVEM) and Xochitl Galvez (PRI, PAN and PRD), the leaders in the 2024 elections, criticized each other at various moments of the ‘encontronazo’, where the candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez (Citizen Movement, MC) presented proposals and criticized the projects of both candidates.
Regarding his statements during the block of economic proposals, Sheinbaum Pardo had a great success by accusing his opponent, Xóchitl Gálvezof “represent neoliberalism.”
“Claudia is right, which is to associate Xóchitl with neoliberalism, which is not even the case, because what Xóchitl has as an economic proposal is a very eclectic mix (…) And for people, neoliberalism is a bad word,” Enrique Quintana pointed out at the analysis table after the debate this Sunday.
The editorial general director of The financialEnrique Quintana said that the great success that Sheinbaum had in this sense was to highlight that Xóchitl Gálvez is the candidate of the PRI, PAN and PRD (or PRIAN) and to point out that she represents “interests of the old economic model.”
“If that is the idea that those who watched the debate left with, it seems to me that Claudia was successful,” noted columnist Quintana.
Sheinbaum accused his main rival, Gálvez, of representing the “neoliberalism” of the parties he supports, National Action (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).
“During the time of (Felipe) Calderón (president from 2006 to 2012, the inequality between rich and poor of the PAN) reached 35 times. With the transformation, inequality has decreased 17 times, that is, it is a different model, before those at the top were supported, now those at the bottom are supported,” he argued.
These were the economic proposals in the Second Presidential Debate
He second official debate of the presidential candidates of Mexico focused on economic issues, so the promises about salary and employmentas well as the macroeconomic and public finance figures They dominated the exchanges.
These are the main data that marked the meeting of the presidential candidates, the ruling party Claudia Sheinbaum, and the opponents Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez (MC).
Minimum salary
Álvarez Máynez, from MC, promised to raise the minimum wage to 10 thousand pesos per month, above the current 7 thousand 467 pesos, while Sheinbaum asserted that it will be raised to an equivalent of 2.5 basic baskets.
“(There are) better salaries. Remember that salaries did not increase for 36 years in the country and for the first time (under the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador) they increased 110 percent. We are going to bring salaries to 2.5 basic baskets,” said the former head of Government of Mexico City (2018-2023).
The 54% growth of debt per capita
Gálvez denounced that the per capita debt growth equals 54 percent during López Obrador’s six-year term (2018-2024).
“They did put the country in debt. Today each Mexican owes 128 thousand pesos. (This is) 45 thousand pesos more than when they arrived. That’s why I tell you that (Sheinbaum) tells lies. That is why she is the candidate of lies,” said the candidate from the Fuerza y Corazón por México alliance.
Xóchitl proposes tax exemption for people with low salaries
The opposition candidate promised that “anyone who earns less than 15 thousand pesos a month will not pay taxes,” which “benefits 20 million Mexicans.”
Billionaire fiscal support for Pemex
The ‘Strength and Heart for Mexico’ candidate assured that The López Obrador Administration has granted Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) fiscal support of 2 billion pesoswhich is equivalent to building 8 million homes and giving 50 thousand pesos to each of those people.
“Pemex is a robber,” he said.
Decent working day: This is what the presidential candidates propose
Álvarez Máynez highlighted that the Citizen Movement supports the reduction of working hours from 48 hours to 40 hours per weekin addition to accuse the parties of Gálvez and Sheinbaum of not supporting the proposal in Congress.
“She (Sheinbaum) is a candidate for the party that today has a majority in Congress. With her votes we could approve a decent working day with two days of rest a week, we could approve that this country has a universal minimum income,” she said.
With information from EFE.
