Claudia Sheinbaum will take the oath of office Tuesday as Mexico\u2019s first female president in more than 200 years of independence, promising to protect an expanded social safety net and fight for the poor like her predecessor, but facing pressing problems. <\/p>\n
The 62-year-old scientist-turned-politician will receive a country with a number of immediate challenges, foremost among them stubbornly high levels of violence, a sluggish economy and hurricane-battered Acapulco. <\/p>\n
Sheinbaum romped to victory in June with nearly 60% of the vote, propelled largely by the sustained popularity of her political mentor, former President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador. <\/p>\n
He took office six years ago declaring \u201cFor the good of all, first the poor,\u201d and promising historical change from the neoliberal economic policies of his predecessors. Sheinbaum promised continuity from his popular social policies to controversial constitutional reforms to the judiciary and National Guard rammed through during his final days in office. <\/p>\n
Despite her pledge of continuity, she is a very different personality. <\/p>\n
\u201cL\u00f3pez Obrador was a tremendously charismatic president and many times that charisma allowed him to cover up some political errors that Claudia Sheinbaum will not have that possibility of doing,\u201d said Carlos P\u00e9rez Ricart, a political analyst at Mexico\u2019s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. \u201cSo, where L\u00f3pez Obrador was charismatic, Claudia Sheinbaum will have to be effective.\u201d <\/p>\n
He is not leaving her an easy situation. <\/p>\n
Her first trip as president will be to the flood-stricken Pacific coast resort of Acapulco. <\/p>\n
Hurricane John, which struck as a Category 3 hurricane last week and then reemerged into the ocean and struck again as a tropical storm, caused four days of incredibly heavy rain that killed at least 17 people along the coast around Acapulco. Acapulco was devastated in October 2023 by Hurricane Otis, and had not recovered from that blow when John hit. <\/p>\n
Sheinbaum must also deal with raging violence in the cartel-dominated northern city of Culiacan, where factional fighting within the Sinaloa cartel broke out after drug lords Ismael \u201cEl Mayo\u201d Zambada and Joaqu\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez were apprehended in the United States after they flew there in a small plane on July 25. <\/p>\n
L\u00f3pez Obrador has long sought to avoid confronting Mexico\u2019s drug cartels and has openly appealed to the gangs to keep the peace among themselves, but the limitations of that strategy have become glaringly apparent in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, where gun battles have raged on the city\u2019s streets. Local authorities and even the army \u2014 which L\u00f3pez Obrador has relied on for everything \u2014 have essentially admitted that the fighting will only end when the cartel bosses decide to end it. <\/p>\n
But that\u2019s only the latest hotspot. <\/p>\n
Drug-related violence is surging from Tijuana in the north to Chiapas in the south, displacing thousands. <\/p>\n
While Sheinbaum inherits a huge budget deficit, unfinished construction projects and a burgeoning bill for her party\u2019s cash hand-out programs \u2014 all of which could send financial markets tumbling \u2014 perhaps her biggest looming concern is the possibility of a victory for Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 US presidential election. <\/p>\n
Trump has already vowed to slap 100% tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico. Though that would likely violate the current US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, there are other things Trump could do to make life difficult for Sheinbaum, including his pledge of massive deportations. <\/p>\n
Things with its northern neighbor were already tense after L\u00f3pez Obrador said he was putting relations with the US embassy \u201con pause\u201d after public criticism of the proposed judicial overhaul. <\/p>\n
First lady Jill Biden struck an optimistic tone for relations with the incoming Sheinbaum administration saying at a reception Monday that, \u201cUnder Dr. Sheinbaum\u2019s presidency I know we will continue to build a more prosperous, safe and democratic region \u2014 and take the steps in our US-Mexico partnership.\u201d <\/p>\n
There are areas where Sheinbaum could try to take Mexico in a new direction. For example, she has a Ph.D. in energy engineering and has spoken of the need to address climate change. L\u00f3pez Obrador built a massive new oil refinery and poured money into the state-owned oil company. But his budget commitments do not leave her much room to maneuver. <\/p>\n
Jennifer Piscopo, professor of gender and politics at the Royal Holloway University of London who has studied Latin America for decades, said Mexico electing its first female leader is important because it will show girls they can do it too, but it can also create unrealistic expectations. <\/p>\n
\u201cWoman firsts are powerful symbols, but they do not gain magic power,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially when the governance challenges are so large, expecting magic solutions overnight can also generate outsized disappointment.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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