During a press conference in Mexico City on January 31, 2025, a reporter asked the President of Mexico about the historical significance and reasoning behind marking 2025 as the Year of Indigenous Women.
Ms. Sheinbaum’s response, in just over a minute, was breathtaking. First, she broke the “normal” dynamic, responding calmly with, “Why not?” She continued, “Indigenous women represent a vindication; they are the origin of Mexico, and we have never recognized them in the way we are recognizing them now. The question is: why does this seem strange?”
The reporter followed up, asking if there was another reason behind this designation. Ms. Sheinbaum replied, “Of course—there is a historical reason, a reason of social justice. Indigenous women have been historically the most discriminated against and the least recognized. And now we are claiming justice for all women, and from the beginning, who do we have to recognize first? Indigenous women, who for years have been forgotten in our history. That is the reason. So perhaps the real question is: why does it seem strange that we celebrate 2025 as the Year of Indigenous Women? There is no other reason—this is enough.”
Claudia Sheinbaum stands as a woman and as President of Mexico, fully recognizing her position in the world and the struggles of the women who came before her. She reaches back to the origins of the country, acknowledging its historical foundation laid by Indigenous women. Moreover, she addresses the root of all social and political problems—discrimination. The discrimination against women and Indigenous communities is deeply embedded in history.
Her words were not a political maneuver to gain votes. She was not rationalizing a justification in response to a journalist’s question. Instead, she placed human life and contribution as the foundation of recognition—not merely historical or significant events.
She demonstrated this before in her letter to Donald Trump, where she used the concept of “human mobility” instead of the terms “migrant” or “immigration” when discussing the issue of the U.S.-Mexico border. “Human mobility” describes an experience—what people do naturally. People move constantly; airplanes, buses, trains, boats, cars, and bicycles are in motion worldwide. Movement is a human reality, something to be recognized and managed. Immigration, by contrast, is secondary—a legal matter tied to a system that can be changed and transformed.
For humanists, acknowledging and understanding the roots of discrimination is a priority. Claudia Sheinbaum’s approach echoes that of Laura Rodríguez, the Chilean political activist, who spoke at the Humanist International’s meeting with the Academy of Sciences of Moscow in April 1991:
“Attempts to resolve these situations are made on a daily basis. The various parliaments of the world often deal with special laws for special groups, as if trying to compensate for those attributes that nature did not give them. And this is also the essence of discrimination. Overcoming the different forms of discrimination requires a great cultural, social, and personal change—a new daily attitude that is also a way of doing things. A way of doing politics, a way of social organization.”
It is difficult to grasp the full depth of humanism—to prioritize human existence as the most important value in a hierarchy of challenges. Yet, in just over a minute, Claudia Sheinbaum did exactly that—with profound clarity and greatness.
The official launch of the celebration took place on February 7, 2025.
