Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 🏫 School shooting in Michoacán: Sheinbaum called Tuesday’s shooting at a Lázaro Cárdenas school — where a 15-year-old allegedly killed two female teachers — “very painful in many senses.” The suspect had posted an Instagram video referencing misogyny and school shootings, linked to the “incel” online subculture. She called it an “isolated incident” and announced plans to expand a mental health program already in place in some middle schools.
- 🇺🇳 Mexico stands by Bachelet for UN: Despite Chile’s new president Kast withdrawing his country’s support, Sheinbaum reaffirmed Mexico’s backing of Michelle Bachelet for UN Secretary-General — a role no woman has ever held. “We believe Bachelet is an ideal person to lead the United Nations,” she said, citing her two presidential terms and human rights work.
- 🧱 On the border wall: Asked about the U.S. expanding its border wall — reportedly now cutting through national parks and wilderness — Sheinbaum said it’s Washington’s call, but made Mexico’s position clear: “We prefer to build bridges, not walls.” She pushed development cooperation as a more effective tool to address migration.
Why today’s mañanera matters
At her Wednesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Tuesday’s shooting at a school in Michoacán. Unlike the United States, school shootings are very rare in Mexico, and Sheinbaum is determined to make sure that their incidence doesn’t increase.
Also of note at today’s mañanera was the president’s reaffirmation of Michelle Bachelet’s candidacy to become the next secretary general of the United Nations. The former president of Chile has lost the support of the Chilean government, but Sheinbaum is convinced that Bachelet has what it takes to lead the world’s preeminent intergovernmental organization.
The president said last month that “it’s time for a woman” to lead the UN, and her opinion on the matter has certainly not changed.
Sheinbaum: School shooting is ‘very painful’
Sheinbaum said that the shooting in a school in the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, on Tuesday in which a teenage boy allegedly killed two female teachers is “very painful in many senses.”
“One, the death of the teachers at the hands of this young person with a long gun,” she said.
“And everything appears to indicate that they … were the people he was looking for,” Sheinbaum added.
Before the shooting, the alleged perpetrator of the crime, a 15-year-old boy identified as Osmer H., “shared a video on Instagram with references to hatred toward women and school shootings,” according to the newspaper El País.
“… The content Osmer shared is associated with the ‘incel’ universe, a digital subculture made up of men who call themselves ‘involuntary celibates’ and who share extremist discourses on masculinity,” the newspaper wrote.
Sheinbaum said that her government wanted the shooting on Tuesday to be an “isolated incident” that is “not repeated.”
She went on to say that the government is planning to broaden the implementation of a mental health program that is already being taught in some middle schools.
The program, Sheinbaum said, is aimed at young people the same age as the boy who allegedly perpetrated the shooting in Lázaro Cárdenas.
Mexico to continue support Bachelet’s candidacy for UN secretary general
After a reporter noted that the government of Chile, now led by President José Antonio Kast, had withdrawn its support of Michelle Bachelet’s candidacy for secretary general of the United Nations, Sheinbaum said that her administration would continue supporting the former Chilean president in her quest to head up the UN.
Earlier this year — before Kast had replaced Gabriel Boric as president of Chile — Bachelet was formally nominated as a candidate for UN secretary-general by Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
Sheinbaum said that she would soon speak by phone to Bachelet, who served twice as president of Chile (2006-2010 and 2014-2018) before becoming the UN high commissioner for human rights.
She said that the reasons why Mexico supports her candidacy “continue to be valid.”
“She’s a woman with a lot of experience. She was president of Chile twice, she’s a woman who seeks peace in the world, a woman who has ideas about the construction of rights and the peaceful resolution of conflicts,” Sheinbaum said.
“… We believe that Bachelet is an ideal person to lead the United Nations, and we’ll continue supporting her,” she said.
Since its establishment in 1945, the United Nations has never been led by a woman. A new secretary-general will be selected later this year and replace António Guterres at the helm of the UN on Jan. 1, 2027.
‘We prefer to build bridges, not walls’
Asked about the expansion of the border wall between the United States and Mexico, Sheinbaum said it was a matter for the U.S. government.
“We believe there are other mechanisms to reduce migration,” she said, specifically citing “cooperation for development,” including in Western Hemisphere countries from which large numbers of people have emigrated in recent years.
“… There is a phrase that several governments have used, not just us,” the president added.
“We prefer to build bridges, not walls.”
The Washington Post reported last Saturday that “the Trump administration is building hundreds of miles of border wall through iconic national parks, public lands and ecologically sensitive wilderness, empowered by provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that provided $46.5 billion in funding and a 2005 law that waived dozens of environmental rules for border security projects.”
Citing an analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, the newspaper also wrote that “despite illegal crossings dropping to historic lows, DHS and the Defense Department plan to construct more than 1,350 miles of new border wall in the Southwest” of the United States.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
