Python strength is not the syntax but the standard and 3rd party libraries.
I'm not saying it's the only reason to choose python now but it's definitely among the biggest reasons.
It is safe to say in 2024 that people do not want FFIs.
Why not just call the C code you've already written in C ? Because they would rather use python (or python like) syntax.
I don't think we actually disagree here. Even your point about the better C-API doesn't indicate that syntax wasn't a deciding factor, just that one of several options had better compatibility.