On February 3rd at 9:30am, the political group, Morena New York Comité 1, organized a rally objecting to Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz’s presence in Yonkers and her candidacy to become the next President of Mexico.
A lady of many hats
Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, a Mexican politician and businesswoman from Tepatepec, Hidalgo, earned her computer engineering degree from the National Autonomous University in 2010. Subsequently, she engaged in various roles related to communications, data analytics, and programming.
From 2015 to 2018, she presided as the Mayor of Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico City. Following her term, Gálvez Ruiz assumed the role of a progressive senator in the Mexican Congress Legislatures. In the past year, she received a nomination as the candidate of the Broad Front for Mexico for the 2024 Mexican Presidential election.
Xóchitl comes to town
At the beginning of February, Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz visited Yonkers presumably seeking support for her campaign. The Yonkers Mexican-American Chamber of Commerce and the Westchester County Board of Legislators, aware of her contentious history with some in the community, did not alert the public about Gálvez Ruiz’s arrival. As a result, over 50 people gathered at New Main Street in Yonkers to express their discontent towards Ruiz and local leaders who support her.
In a recent phone interview, Lizeth Romero, founder of the social justice organization, We, United, shed light on the circumstances surrounding the clash between the Mexican community and Xóchitl Gálvez. She stated that Mexican and Indigenous people doubt Gálvez’s intentions. That they view her as a “disgrace” to their communities for exploiting her “rags-to-riches” story and using her Indigenous-Mexican identity to garner votes.
[Xóchitl] is known to be corrupt and disrespectful. A lot of Mexicans will say that her party and people like her are the reason a lot of us fled from Mexico; to […] come to the United States for a better life.
A berating and a brush-off
Protesters at Main St. branded Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz a “rat” and criticized law enforcement for protecting her. They accused officials of enabling her to inflict more harm on their communities.
The following is a translated statement from the above footage.
Xóchitl wants to be President because she wants to take away […] the privileges that existed before. All the projects that the President [Andrés Manuel López Obrador] has done, she wants to take away and hold hostage. That’s why she wants to be President. Not because she loves the people. She loves the interests of the most powerful in a few rooms. That’s why she wants to be President.
A male protestor holding up a sign that reads “A vote for Xóchitl Gálvez represents corruption.”
Facing condemnation from the crowd, Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz exited the event unfazed. But, that exit came after Board of Legislators Vice-Chair José Alvarado both presented her with a proclamation and inflamed the protesting crowd. From within the Dos Marias restaurant, he referenced the literary classic, Don Quixote, and made a surprising assessment of his constituents just outside. Legislator Alvarado appeared to quote the novel saying, “let the dogs bark, Sancho. It is a sign that we’re moving forward.[translated from the original Spanish].” However, this quote does not actually appear anywhere in the book.
It was very upsetting that the Mexican-American Chamber of Commerce was so open to her; and when José Alvarado gave her a proclamation and named the day after her. The Mexican community of Yonkers has no type of communication with these individuals about what they want, which is why the rally was held.
Lizeth Romero – Founder of We, United
The following is a translation of the footage shown above:
[She’s] corrupt. Assassin/murderer! Traitors to the Homeland. You should be ashamed to support someone corrupt. Assassins! You’re all corrupt! Traitors to the Homeland! You should be ashamed! Assassin! The people renounce you, Assassin! You should be ashamed!
The candidate leaves, community action continues
With the candidate now gone, the Morena New York Comité 1 and We, United persist. The groups are arranging a community meeting to discuss ideas to combat the silence and lack of support from elected officials and local organizations.
The Mexican-American Chamber of Commerce just never listens. They work very closely with the Mayor [Mike Spano] and Tasha Diaz. This was like a real slap in the face to all the immigrants who came here to this city—to this country—to run away from Xóchitl, her party, and her people.
Lizeth Romero
