MEXICO: Something for the Girls

Article 34 of the Mexican Constitution used to begin: “Citizens are those males who . . .” Last week, after ratification by state legislatures and formal promulgation by the Senate, the wording was deftly amended. Article 34 now begins: “Citizens are those men and women who . . .”

The change, a campaign pledge which President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines has made good, gives women full legal rights of citizenship, notably the vote. The voting privilege will start at 21 for single men or women, at 18 for the married—on the amiable theory that marriage is an indication of maturity. Only one of 40 Senators spoke out against the amendment. “This,” cried Aquiles ElorcLy, in a faint echo of the anticlericalism that used to keep Mexican politics at a low boil, “hands the country to the church.” None of the other 39 lawmakers seemed to fear that Mexico’s predominantly Roman Catholic women would rush out to form an all powerful, pro-clerical party.