Claudia Sheinbaum sworn in as Mexico’s first female president in historic inauguration

Claudia Sheinbaum officially took office Tuesday as Mexico’s first female president and the first of Jewish heritage during a historic inauguration ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

At the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro in Mexico City, attendees swarmed Sheinbaum, taking selfies and greeting her, as she approached outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Ifigenia Martínez, president of Mexico’s Chamber of Congress.

In a symbolic act of the transition of power between López Obrador and Sheinbaum, Martínez, who many credit as a trailblazer for women in Mexican politics, handed Sheinbaum a presidential sash decorated with the colors of the Mexican flag.

Sheinbaum took her oath and addressed a room of more than 100 high-profile invitees, including U.S. first lady Jill Biden and the presidents of nearly a dozen African and Latin American countries, among others.

“For the first time, we women have come to lead the destiny of our beautiful nation,” Sheinbaum said in Spanish during a lengthy speech in which she outlined the priorities of her presidential term, some of which include guaranteeing human rights and freedoms as well as promoting peaceful foreign policies and expanding on her predecessor’s social programs.

Sheinbaum will later head to the National Palace in Mexico City’s famed Zócalo, where thousands of constituents gathered to watch the inauguration through large screens placed across the main square.

Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico City and a climate scientist, first made history three months ago when she defeated Xóchitl Gálvez of the Broad Front for Mexico and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the Citizen Movement in a landslide election on June 2.

As a member of the governing Morena party, Sheinbaum is largely expected to follow in the footsteps of her mentor López Obrador.

The leftist Morena party, which López Obrador founded, has dominated Mexican politics since 2018, when he was elected. López Obrador leaves office with an approval rating of nearly 80%, Noticias Telemundo reported. Welfare policies and social programs to reduce poverty and promises to end corruption helped solidify his popularity during his six-year term.

Sheinbaum vowed to carry on his biggest pledges — which also include combating the country’s high levels of violence by continuing López Obrador’s “hugs, not bullets” policy of not directly taking on criminal organizations that have gained control over large parts of Mexico as they fight for territory to traffic drugs into the U.S., make money from migrant smuggling and extort residents to fuel their illicit enterprises.

Still, crime rates remained high during López Obrador’s term, with at least 199,300 homicides and 51,700 persons reported missing from December 2018 to August of this year, Noticias Telemundo reported. Mexican government data has also shown that the strategy of López Obrador’s predecessors — pursuing drug lords in an all-out war — did not improve safety, either.

As Sheinbaum steps into power, she faces a battle to harness her predecessor’s popularity while making her own mark.

In addition to the violence crisis in Mexico, Sheinbaum also inherits a nation struggling with a lagging currency, a ballooning budget deficit and tensions with its biggest trade partners over a controversial judicial overhaul that will allow voters to elect judges.

Sheinbaum will also have an important role in resolving issues that are priorities for the U.S., such as immigration and foreign affairs, as well as determining the future of the trade deal that has made Mexico the U.S.’ largest trade partner.

Two Hispanic U.S. Cabinet members of Mexican descent, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, attended Sheinbaum’s inauguration with Jill Biden as part of the U.S. presidential delegation. They were also joined by fellow Mexican Americans Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, and Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as well as White House Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo and Tucson, Arizona, Mayor Regina Romero.