At a meeting in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico's newly formed Indigenous Government Council (CIG [6]) chose a Nahuatl woman from Jalisco state as its candidate to contend in the 2018 presidential race. The woman, María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, known as "Marichuy," is a traditional leader of the Nahuatl indigenous community of Tuxpan [7]. Marichuy said her candidacy was part of a larger effort to wiin indigenous participation in "the reconstruction of the country." The assembly was attended by nearly 850 delegates representing 58 indigenous peoples across Mexico. The CIG was created earlier this year by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI [8]) and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN [9]). The assembly was overseen by Zapatista leaders including the elusive Subcommander Galeano [10]. (Radio Formula [11], Aristegui Noticias [12], Radio Zapatista [13], Animal Politico [14], EFE [15], May 28)
