Sheinbaum begins his six-year term, succeeding Morena Party ally Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as the first female president of Mexico.
Sheinbaum took power from outgoing President – and close Morena Party ally – Andrés Manuel López Obrador at an inauguration ceremony in the country’s Congress on Tuesday.
The 62-year-old climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City is scheduled to serve a six-year term ending in 2030.
Sheinbaum was sworn in before parliamentarians, while her supporters chanted, “President!” President!” and “Viva Mexico!”
“Now is the time for transformation, now is the time for women,” Sheinbaum said.
She entered office with her party controlling an absolute majority in the legislature’s lower house, and almost the same in the Senate, and she immediately sought to reassure investors, saying investments would be safe in Mexico.
Sheinbaum will need to address some of Lopez Obrador’s last-minute moves, namely controversial judicial reform that would see federal judges — including Supreme Court justices — elected by popular vote. The constitutional change has drawn the ire of advocates of judicial independence and investors.
The new president is scheduled to run in US elections on November 5 that could change relations with Mexico’s largest trading partner.
Later in November, she will present her government’s first budget, which is likely to give clues as to whether Sheinbaum can deliver on his commitments to reduce the country’s growing fiscal deficit while maintaining popular spending on social welfare and costly anti-crime initiatives. .
This mission comes at a time when Mexico’s economy, the second largest economy in Latin America, is expected to achieve modest growth.
Historic presidency
Sheinbaum’s inauguration is the culmination of a four-decade rise in Mexican politics, including her historic election as the first woman to lead Mexico City.
Sheinbaum, the daughter of academic activists, also weighed in on the history-making nature of her presidency.
In a social media post on Monday, she unveiled a logo showing a young woman raising the Mexican flag, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The hairstyle became a kind of signature for Sheinbaum.
“The young Mexican woman will be a symbol of the government of Mexico,” Sheinbaum wrote.
Mexico remains one of the most conservative countries in Latin America, with all 65 of its presidents since independence from Spain being men.
As Mexico City’s mayor, Sheinbaum built a reputation for a data-driven approach to leadership, winning praise for cutting the city’s homicide rate in half.
Its policies sought to boost security spending on an expanded police force with higher salaries. It has pledged to replicate this approach throughout Mexico, which continues to suffer from high crime rates and the outsized influence of powerful drug cartels. Critics questioned how realistic these pledges were.
Meanwhile, Sheinbaum promised to continue the generous social spending policies – pensions and scholarships for young people – championed by her populist predecessor López Obrador.
Having studied energy engineering and later been selected as a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sheinbaum sought a more careful balance on environmental initiatives.
She said it would protect the industrial dominance of Mexico’s state-owned oil and electricity companies, while expressing interest in shifting toward renewable energy projects.
Sheinbaum shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore in 2007 for her climate efforts.
Before that, she was the environment official in Lopez Obrador’s government when he was mayor of Mexico City. She previously served as a key spokeswoman for López Orador’s failed 2006 campaign.
