PLAN DE AYALA, Mexico (AP) 鈥� At 4:30 a.m., girls and women begin to appear in the dark streets of this village of Tojolabal people in southern Mexico. They walk in silence. Some head to grind corn to make their family鈥檚 tortillas. Others fetch firewood to carry home, on their backs or with the help of a donkey. The youngest hurry to finish chores before running to school.
Hours later, it鈥檚 still morning, and it鈥檚 time to talk. A group of young women and men gathers in a classroom at the Plan de Ayala high school. They鈥檝e come to discuss gender equality and reflect on the role of women in this remote Indigenous community in Chiapas, Mexico鈥檚 poorest state.
Jeydi Hern谩ndez, 17, wants to be a veterinarian and play basketball, though her first attempt to form a team failed: 鈥淭here were 12 of us, but my friends got married, and there were only four of us left.鈥� Mada铆 G贸mez, 18, complains she can鈥檛 express opinions in her town: 鈥淭hey think women don鈥檛 know anything.鈥�
Two Indigenous women lead the workshop; dozens attend. Years ago, such an initiative wouldn't have been so well-received, they say. But change is coming 鈥� albeit slowly.
Seventy years ago, Mexican women won the right to vote, and today of electing its . Yet some of the Indigenous women who will vote in Sunday鈥檚 national election don鈥檛 have a voice in their own homes and communities.
In Plan de Ayala and other corners of Mexico, women can鈥檛 participate in local government. Men set priorities. Plan de Ayala鈥檚 women aren鈥檛 even registered residents, even though they are on voter rolls, so its 1,200 men can only guess at the true population.
With no official data, it鈥檚 unclear how many communities operate this way. But it鈥檚 one of many contradictions for a part of the Mexican population that for centuries has been marginalized. Now, Indigenous women are pushing for change 鈥� little by little 鈥� with the younger generation often leading the charge.
Of more than 23 million Indigenous people in Mexico 鈥� nearly 20% of the population 鈥� well over half live in poverty, according to 2022 government data. And women face the worst of it, with the lowest rates of literacy in their communities and little, if any, rights to own land.
Neither of the two women candidates for president 鈥� of the governing Morena party and the opposition鈥檚 鈥� have spoken much about Indigenous issues. Still, women in this region can鈥檛 hide some hope that a woman president could better address some of their most pressing needs: health care and education access, and protection from domestic violence.
Juana Cruz, 51, is one of the women on a crusade to bring change. She grew up listening to stories of abuses suffered by four generations of her family forced to work on an estate where they had to speak Spanish rather than their native Tojolabal, a Mayan-family language. She remembers being beaten in school for not speaking Spanish well.
Today she's one of the most veteran social activists in Las Margaritas, the municipality that includes Plan de Ayala, and director of Tzome Ixuk, which means 鈥渙rganized woman鈥� in Tojolabal.
There鈥檚 been progress in places like Las Margaritas, a sprawling township of some 140,000 people spread across about 400 mostly Indigenous communities, including Plan de Ayala, but unwritten rules still govern much of life in the villages.
Increasingly, girls and young women are rejecting such norms. That鈥檚 part of what鈥檚 discussed in the workshops at Plan de Ayala high school.
About a third of those gathered said they'd like to continue studying, according to Mar铆a Leticia Santiz, 28, and Liz V谩zquez, 33, who lead the discussion.
鈥淵ou all have the ability to make decisions in your communities, in your schools, in your families,鈥� V谩zquez tells the group. 鈥淵ou are a generation of change.鈥� Santiz translates to Tojolabal.
V谩zquez and Santiz are from a collective called Ch鈥檌eltik, meaning 鈥渨e are those who grow鈥� in the Indigenous language Tseltal. The group鈥檚 goal is to encourage conversation and reflection among young people in some of Chiapas鈥� most closed communities.
In Plan de Ayala, like most rural corners of Las Margaritas, there's little evidence of the coming national election. Posters of Sheinbaum are seen in some places. The face of G谩lvez 鈥� who has Indigenous roots, with an Otomi father 鈥� is not.
V谩zquez says that personally, she hasn't connected with either candidate. But in the workshop, she tells the group that a woman becoming president proves nothing is impossible.
are notable for what鈥檚 lacking: any prioritization of gender issues or detailed plans to address Indigenous communities' issues.
Sheinbaum insists she'll try to reach agreements to compensate for past injustices against some Indigenous peoples. G谩lvez has only gone so far as to remind voters of projects she pushed when she was in charge of Indigenous development under a previous administration, two decades ago.
In Plan de Ayala, V谩zquez and Santiz leave the workshop at the school encouraged. The young men seem receptive to speaking about equality, and they see signs of change: fathers supporting daughters鈥� dreams, young women carving out spaces for themselves.
After the workshop, Mada铆 G贸mez, the 18-year-old, heads home to finish helping her mother. She鈥檚 not yet sure about continuing school 鈥� she wants to be economically independent and considers herself a strong woman who doesn鈥檛 take 鈥渘o鈥� for an answer. Maybe she鈥檒l stay here and find work. Maybe she鈥檒l try making it to the U.S.
That afternoon, she puts on her soccer uniform and heads to the local field, optimistic that more girls want to join. On the dirt track, teens pass older women wearing traditional embroidered blouses and satin skirts returning from the fields, their bodies stooped by bundles of grass hoisted on their backs.
G贸mez said she believes in the potential of her community's women and thinks Mexico鈥檚 first woman president could show they can do more even than men.
鈥淚 want gender equality to come, for them to give us that chance to raise our voices, for our voice to be valued the same as a man鈥檚,鈥� she said.
Mar铆a Verza, The Associated Press
