Marie de Jesus Patricio Martinez is elected by the National Indigenous Congress in Mexico Sunday in San Cristobal de las Casas in the southeastern state of Chiapas. Patricio Martinez will run as their independent candidate for presidential elections in Mexico due 2018.
The assembly included delegates from 32 states, for a total of 848 delegates from 58 Mexican indigenous communities. Most notably, Patrico Martinez received the support of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, known by the Spanish acronym of EZLN. The EZLN has traditionally boycotted Mexican state politics.