Mexico City: A council of Mexican indigenous groups backed by the Zapatista rebels has selected a Nahua Indian woman as the country's first indigenous female presidential candidate.

The Indian Governance Council selected Maria de Jesus Patricio to run in the 2018 election, issuing a statement on Sunday saying that "we will seek to put her name on the ballot." Because the council is not a registered political party, it may need signatures to get Patricio on the ballot.

The council is calling for an "anti-capitalist and honest" government, saying: "We don't seek to administer power; we seek to dismantle it."

Local media describe Patricio as a traditional healer from the western state of Jalisco.
The Zapatistas led a brief armed uprising for Indian rights in 1994, but have stayed out of electoral politics.