Mexican bishop says nation ready for woman president in 2006 election

Published: 2003-10-21

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- A Mexican bishop said his country is ready for a female president, a notion that has caused controversy in a nation steeped in the concept of machismo. Bishop Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago of Leon, vice president of the Mexican bishops' conference, said women have the same capacity as men to govern and should not be marginalized in the 2006 presidential election. "Women have big responsibilities as wives, as mothers, as professionals, and they also have rights -- including the right to participate in the political life of the nation. A woman is capable of being president of Mexico, and the country is ready for it," Bishop Martin said in an interview released on the bishops' Web site Oct. 20. Mexican women have served in Cabinet positions, but the country has never had a female running as a presidential candidate for a major political party. However, women in the nation's two biggest parties have said they want to run for the top government job in the 2006 race.

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