Claiming a Sweeping Mandatory to Become the First Female President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum

Following a landslide election victory, Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist who won the Nobel Prize, will become Mexico’s first female president. She has pledged to carry on the work of her mentor and departing leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The INE electoral institute’s rapid sample count, which was made public late on Sunday night, showed that Sheinbaum, 61, received between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote. This is the highest percentage of support received by a candidate in a Mexican presidential election since the end of one-party government in 2000.

Sheinbaum congratulated Lopez Obrador on winning and described him as “an exceptional, unique man who has transformed Mexico for the better.”

Sheinbaum’s triumph was aided by Lopez Obrador’s efforts to increase the minimum wage, decrease poverty, strengthen the peso, and control low unemployment rates. These achievements won him immense popularity. However, many predict it will be challenging for Sheinbaum to succeed in his footsteps.

“We made history!” Sheinbaum said this to a gathering early on Monday morning in Mexico City’s central plaza, Zocalo.

Her triumph is a significant step for Mexico, which has long promoted more conventional values and responsibilities for women. Mexico is known for its macho culture and is home to the second-largest Roman Catholic population in the world.

“It’s a historic moment, especially for women,” exclaimed student Arlyn Rivera, 24, as she joined in celebration at the Zocalo plaza following Sheinbaum’s win. “Mexican politics deserves more than what we have had in recent years.”

Based on early data, Xochitl Galvez, the main opposition challenger, accepted defeat after garnering only 26.6%-28.6% of the votes.

Sheinbaum is the first woman to win a general election in the United States, Mexico, or Canada. She will assume office on October 1.

Mexico follows other Latin American nations that have elected women to the highest position, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

FINANCIAL DEFICIT

Sheinbaum has pledged to increase the welfare programs that have propelled Lopez Obrador’s success and popularity, which is a difficult undertaking given that she is taking over a huge budget deficit and slow economic growth.

Congress will be full of support for her plan. According to rapid count figures, Morena and her supporters, the ruling party, are on course to potentially hold a supermajority in both chambers of Congress.

She promised to increase security, but she hasn’t provided many details. Additionally, the election—which saw 38 candidates killed—was the bloodiest in Mexico’s recent history, which has exacerbated the country’s severe security issues. Many commentators claim that during Lopez Obrador’s administration, organized crime groups increased and strengthened their power.

The deaths of two persons at polling places in the state of Puebla also clouded Sunday’s election results. Although the homicide rate has been gradually declining, more people—over 185,000—have died under Lopez Obrador’s presidency than under any other in Mexico’s recent history.

According to independent political risk analyst for Latin America Nathaniel Parish Flannery, “Sheinbaum will likely struggle to achieve a significant improvement in overall levels of security unless she commits to making a game-changing level of investment in improving policing and reducing impunity.”

US RELATIONS

State leaders from all throughout the area poured in congrats throughout the evening.

“Mexico chose a progressive to become the country’s first female president. On social media, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared, “It is a victory for the people of Mexico and for their democracy.

Tense negotiations with the United States over the massive flows of migrants heading for the United States across Mexico and security cooperation against drug trafficking at a time when the fentanyl epidemic rages in the United States will be among the problems facing the incoming president.

If Donald Trump wins the presidency of the United States in November, Mexican officials anticipate that these conversations will be more challenging. In addition to vowing to use special forces to combat the cartels, Trump has threatened to levy 100% taxes on Chinese automobiles manufactured in Mexico.

Sheinbaum’s domestic responsibilities will include dealing with water and electricity scarcity and encouraging manufacturing to move in line with the nearshoring movement, which sees businesses bringing supply chains closer to their primary markets.

She will also need to consider her options about Pemex, the massive state oil company whose output has been declining for the past 20 years and which is heavily indebted.

Goldman Sachs’ senior Latin America economist, Alberto Ramos, remarked, “It cannot just be that there is an endless pit where you put public money in and the company is never profitable.” “They have to rethink the business model of Pemex.”

Hanging over the campaign, hoping to use the vote as a referendum on his political vision, was Luis Obrador. While Sheinbaum has promised to carry out many of Lopez Obrador’s programs, particularly those that have benefited the poorest citizens of Mexico, she has rejected accusations from the opposition that she would be a “puppet” of the politician.

“It is anticipated that she will uphold Lopez Obrador’s policies while concurrently assuming the presidency,” stated Jason Marczak, senior director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council.

He cited Sheinbaum’s track record of efficiency as mayor of Mexico City and said, “I see her administration as being more technocratic than a Lopez Obrador administration, one that is less dependent on the ultimate whims of the president and more about the structure that she has created around her.”

Political analyst Viri Rios stated that she believed the charge of Sheinbaum being a puppet was motivated by misogyny.

“It’s unbelievable that people cannot believe she’s going to be making her own decisions, and I think that’s got a lot to do with the fact that she’s female,” she stated.