By Fiona Espinoza-Castro
Staff Writer
Claudia Sheinbaum, the 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City, emerged victorious as she took the Mexican presidential office on Oct. 1, becoming the country’s 66th president and the first woman to lead the nation in its 200-year history.
During Sheinbaum’s inauguration speech, she said, “I am a mother, a grandmother, a scientist and a woman of faith. And, as of today, by the will of the people of Mexico, the constitutional president of the United Mexican States.”
“I will govern for all,” said Sheinbaum. “And be certain that I will place my knowledge, my strength, my history, and my very life at the service of the people and the country. I am certain that together we will consolidate a Mexico that is more prosperous, free, democratic, sovereign and just. And I will not let you down.”
On June 2, when preliminaries were held, the ruling political party, Morena, was projected to win two-thirds of the majority in both houses of Congress, which allowed them to pass future constitutional changes without needing support from the opposition.
According to N+, Sheinbaum won the presidency with 59.75% of the vote, beating her opponent Xochitl Galvez, who collected 27.45% of the popular vote.
While Mexico is still largely patriarchal, almost half of continental Latin America has already elected female heads of government. Reuters reported that Honduras and Peru currently have female presidents, and now Mexico is the only country in North America to have elected a woman as president.
Sheinbaum is also Jewish, in a country home to the world’s second-largest Catholic population. Many women have thanked Sheinbaum for being a sign of change. According to Reuters, a native resident exclaimed, “Before we couldn't even vote, and when you could, it was to vote for the person your husband told you to vote for. Thank God that has changed and I get to live it.”
Reuters reported that some opponents claimed that Sheinbaum would be the “puppet” of former president Lopez Obrador, as she was his political protege. Sheinbaum has pledged to continue many of his policies, particularly those aimed at helping people in poverty.
NPR reported that the president has appointed many of her predecessor’s confidants to her cabinet, including Obrador’s public security minister, finance minister, and former and current foreign affairs ministers.
Sheinbaum wishes to balance expanding welfare policies with managing budget deficits and low economic growth. This will be difficult because Mexico has seen a GDP growth of just 1.5%, Reuters reported.
According to KTSM 9 News, Sheinbaum will make it her goal to meet with employers and workers to increase the minimum wage by 2.5 times basic needs. She plans on hiring 20,000 government doctors and nurses for government clinics and opening more welfare offices and high schools. Starting next year, more doctors and nurses will also visit senior citizens’ homes to reverse the decline in access to public healthcare, as reported in the New York Times.
Sheinbaum is expected to propose reforms that aim to broaden women’s rights, including equal pay, freedom from violence and the equal representation of genders in the government, according to Reuters.
This involves modifying six articles in the Constitution and seven laws that can be supported by the governing party, Morena. Sheinbaum has also announced that women aged 60 to 64 will receive cash pensions, and children will receive a stay-in-school scholarship, which could expand social programs.
Sheinbaum has promised her supporters that the government will respect the independence of the central bank. Additionally, she is focused on improving national security after her predecessor’s term, which allowed organized crime groups to increase their influence in the nation, according to Reuters.
Sheinbaum criticized neoliberal economic policies, which she believes left millions of Mexicans in poverty, according to PBS. She has also praised the country’s largest oil company, Pemex, while still advocating for clean energy. However, the oil giant has seen production decline over the past two decades and is facing significant debt.
On the issue of immigration, Sheinbaum has turned to the U.S. in hopes that the country can improve its policies. She suggested that the U.S. should decrease spending of taxpayer dollars on militarized control. Instead, she believes the U.S. should implement better support development programs for the migrants that arrive, according to the Massachusetts Review.
Sheinbaum also intends to transform Mexico’s system of governance. NPR reported that her predecessor's last major act was a constitutional amendment that removed 7,000 judges from office to prevent corruption in the judicial system. Instead of being appointed, judges will now be elected.
Critics say that the reform could reduce checks and balances on presidential power and cause the Mexican peso to lose value against the U.S. dollar. In response to this, Sheinbaum has reassured the public that she will oversee the implementation of the judicial reform carefully, without heavily impacting the financial markets.
Sheinbaum hopes to leave a lasting legacy and impact on Mexico by creating a political identity separate from her mentor and continuing to reform the nation for the better.
