Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador offered vague plans for moral regeneration after string of gruesome killings of women and girls
Mexicos president has cast himself as the victim of feminist activists, amid an outburst of fury at the alarming violence targeting the countrys women and girls and the seeming impunity that accompanies each crime.
A string of especially gruesome killings of women and girls has prompted widespread protests, especially in the capital. In one incident last week, masked women splashed blood-red paint on the doors of the national palace and sprayed the walls with graffiti.
But Mexicos president, Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, has been accused of a tone-deaf response to the crisis as he offers vague plans for moral regeneration and protestations that all murders matter.
At his morning press conference on Thursday, he mused about the a feminist collective that had descended on the palace. They opposed the moral regeneration were promoting. I respect their views but dont share them. I believe we have to moralise the country, purify public life and strengthen cultural, moral and spiritual values, he said.
Im not going to give up my lifelong beliefs because they came and protested. Were going to struggle to achieve a material change, a spiritual change.
Endless stories on horrific murders and daily indignities such as harassment, catcalls and being groped on public transit have prompted a burgeoning womens movement, whose members have protested online and in the streets and called for a national womens strike on 9 March.
In recent years, Mexican women have become increasingly ready to call out callous and inept responses from public officials, police and prosecutors in cases of femicides, but in some cases politicians have appeared to show more concern over feminist graffiti than the crimes committed against women.
Much of the recent outrage, however, has targeted Lpez Obrador, who identifies as left-leaning but has appeared exasperated by calls to confront the issue.
This month, he responded to a question about the federal prosecutors proposal to scratch the concept of femicides from the criminal code by saying the issue has been manipulated by the media.
He also showed annoyance that the question interrupted his plans to talk about his pet project of
Womens groups say he is treating femicides in the same way as his predecessors: as a political and public relations problems rather than a crisis claiming the lives of women.
The message hes sending women is: I dont care, said Maricruz Ocampo, an activist in the state of Quertaro.
Theyve all had the same attitude toward the problem, she said. This is a Mexican problem, not a womens issue.
Several recent high-profile crimes have been especially gruesome.
Ingrid Escamilla, 25, was murdered on 9 February by her husband, who skinned her corpse and disemboweled her. A tabloid newspaper fueled further anger by publishing photos of her corpse on its front page.
In the second crime, a seven-year-old girl, Ftima Aldrighetti Antn, was abducted and tortured after her mother got stuck in traffic and was late to pick her up from school. Her body was found in a plastic bag four days later, showing signs of torture. Two suspects were arrested on Wednesday but not after Mexico City officials leaked information on the complicated domestic situation in Ftimas home.
Lpez Obrador responded Tuesday to questions about the femicides by blaming family breakdowns, along with neoliberal policies implemented over the past three decades.
He also cast the blame on his predecessors including those in Mexico City, where he governed from 2000-2005 and has heavily influenced local politics since leaving office.
Not only is nothing being done today, but whats being said is discrediting women, said Regina Tams, director of Gire, a reproductive rights organisation.
Lpez Obrador swept to power promising widespread social change but has consistently showed
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from MetNews https://metnews.pw/the-message-hes-sending-is-i-dont-care-mexicos-president-criticized-for-response-to-killings-of-women/
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