Government of advertisers, not officials

The enthusiasm of the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Martha Delgado, on the issue of feminist foreign policy is undeniable.

Where he visits and is presented with a microphone, Delgado proudly mentions the work carried out by the SRE in this matter. She repeated it again on October 12 at the residence of the Spanish ambassador. In front of 1,600 people, Delgado showed self-confidence and conviction that the SRE is implementing a feminist foreign policy.

However, without the construction of a feminist foreign public policy outlined by President López Obrador, and without concrete results, Martha Delgado’s words modify her character as an official to delineate a profile of a publicist.

Repeating a phrase a thousand times ends up convincing whoever says it that they are indeed right.

If there was a feminist foreign policy in the Government of President AMLO, he would have condemned the death of the Iranian Mahsa Amini, 22 years old, at the hands of the so-called morality police.

A European diplomat who was at the event at the Spanish residence told me that they have tried to interact with Undersecretary Martha Delgado to deepen the issue of feminist foreign policy, but “she has not even received us.”

A similar idea was expressed to me by an official from a multilateral organization who listened with astonishment to the words of the undersecretary. “Unbelievable,” she told me.

A Mexican diplomat who is working at the embassy in a European country told me: “The underlying issue is that it is a huge contradiction to marry the Nation-State model with feminism. The political message is appreciated. Nothing more than to add concrete actions. Feminism is going to change the order of your priorities and I don’t know of a single country that can do it head-on”.

“It will be difficult if there is no intentional feminism from the head. Men who call themselves feminists have not understood that if they were, they would have to step aside and put a woman in their place.

Countries like Sweden, France and Germany have advanced in their public policies on the subject. Unfortunately, yesterday, the new conservative Swedish government announced that it will no longer use the term “feminist foreign policy, because labels have a bad habit of prevailing over substance”.

Secretary Marcelo Ebrard mentioned in his appearance in Congress that Mexico ranks fifth in the world in feminist foreign policy. It would be great news; the women of Iran would applaud his gesture.

For now, Martha Delgado has stopped being an official to act as a publicist. She doesn’t do bad. This government will go down in history for being the first to have more publicists than officials.

@faustopretelin