Sheinbaum becomes Mexico’s first female president

Published on: 01/10/2024 – 03:35

3 minutes

The 62-year-old former mayor of Mexico City and ruling party heavyweight will take office in the presence of foreign dignitaries, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US First Lady Jill Biden.

“It is time for women and transformation,” Sheinbaum has said on several occasions, in a country with a history of gender-based discrimination and violence, where about ten women or girls are murdered every day.

But having a female president does not guarantee a greater focus on women’s rights, said Maria Fernanda Bozmoski, deputy director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the US-based think tank the Atlantic Council.

“When we think about other women leaders in the region, it doesn’t necessarily mean that women’s issues are a priority,” she told AFP, noting that Sheinbaum also faced other pressing issues such as security, energy and foreign policy.

Sheinbaum will take the oath of office in Congress – officially becoming leader of the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people – before a celebration in Mexico City’s main square.

One high-profile figure who will be notable by his absence is Spain’s King Felipe VI, who refused to invite Sheinbaum and accused him of failing to recognize the damage caused by colonization.

In response, Spain announced it would boycott the inauguration, despite strong economic and historical ties with Mexico.

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Sheinbaum, a scientist by training, won victory in June with a promise to continue the left-wing reform agenda of outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a close ally.

Lopez Obrador is leaving the presidential palace after six years in the country’s one-term term, despite an approval rating of around 70 percent, largely thanks to his policies aimed at helping poorer Mexicans.

He leaves Sheinbaum the leadership of a nation where murders and kidnappings occur daily and ultra-violent drug cartels control large swathes of territory.

More than 450,000 people have been murdered here since 2006 due to increasing criminal violence, much of it linked to drug trafficking and gangs.

Although Sheinbaum has pledged to stick with the outgoing president’s controversial “hug-not-bullets” strategy of using social policy to tackle crime at its roots, experts expect some changes in her approach.

“It will be a modified version of hugs and not bullets, which will rely more on intelligence and therefore be more effective at getting things done,” said Professor Pamela Starr, an expert on Mexico at the University of Southern California.

Such an approach by Sheinbaum when she was mayor of Mexico City “was very successful in reducing crime,” she said.

The new president will also have to deal with the fallout from a row over recently passed judicial reforms, which will make Mexico the only country in the world to elect all judges by popular vote.

Lopez Obrador argued that the changes were necessary to clean up a “rotten” judiciary that serves the interests of the political and economic elite.

The constitutional change, which critics say would make it easier for politicians and organized crime to influence the courts, would upset both foreign investors and key trading partners the United States and Canada.

Still, experts believe Sheinbaum is likely to maintain good relations with whoever wins the US elections on November 5 – especially if it is Democrat Kamala Harris, who would also be her country’s first female president.

While there will still be “some tension and friction,” especially over migration, the reality is that both countries recognize the importance of their relationship, Bozmoski said.

Sheinbaum has already shown herself to be “a strong leader” and will likely be “much more pragmatic and perhaps even less confrontational than her predecessor,” she added.

© 2024 AFP