Claudia Sheinbaum made history on Tuesday as she was inaugurated as Mexico’s first female president, following the tenure of her mentor, left-wing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“It is time for change, and it is time for women,” Sheinbaum declared in her address during the swearing-in ceremony in Mexico City. The 62-year-old expressed gratitude to her predecessor, whose popularity played a key role in her decisive victory in the June election. “It was an honour to fight with you,” she stated to López Obrador.
The inauguration was attended by several high-ranking officials, including Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, and U.S. First Lady Jill Biden.
As the first Mexican president of Jewish heritage, Sheinbaum intends to continue López Obrador’s policies, such as his social spending initiatives and railway network expansion, while introducing her own agenda.
Her immediate priority is responding to a natural disaster, as she prepares to visit Acapulco in Guerrero state on Wednesday, where Hurricane John has caused dozens of fatalities and widespread flooding.
Sheinbaum’s administration will also face challenges such as combatting the country’s powerful drug cartels and managing migration and trade tensions with the United States. Backed by the Morena party, which holds a majority in both chambers of the Mexican Congress, Sheinbaum previously served as the mayor of Mexico City and contributed to climate science reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
