Claudia Sheinbaum Sworn in as Mexico's First Female President

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Facts

  • Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in on Tuesday as Mexico's first female president in more than 200 years of independence, as well as the first president with Jewish heritage in the deeply Catholic country.[1][2]
  • In her inauguration speech, the former mayor of Mexico City pledged to continue the social programs of her predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and his push for greater control over key economic sectors.[3][4]
  • This comes as the leftist climate scientist-turned-politician won the presidential election in June with nearly 60% of the vote, far ahead of her closest rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, also a woman.[5][6]
  • Mexico only granted women the right to vote in 1953 but has recently established gender quotas in politics and government. Today, half of the Congress is female and women head the country's top court and central bank.[6][7]
  • As she enters office for a six-year term, Sheinbaum faces a Nov. 15 deadline to present her government's first budget. Her Morena party holds supermajority control in the lower house of Congress and nearly that in the Senate.[8][9]
  • Ahead of her swearing-in ceremony, Colombia's Pres. Gustavo Petro told reporters in Mexico that, like him, Sheinbaum was a former member of the M-19 guerrilla. According to Colombia’s Vice-Chancellor Jorge Rojas, she was allegedly among Mexicans who helped rebel fighters fleeing Colombia.[2][10]

Sources: [1]EL PAÍS English, [2]Associated Press, [3]Wsj, [4]CNN, [5]The Hill, [6]Los Angeles Times, [7]Washington Post, [8]Reuters, [9]Al Jazeera and [10]Breitbart.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Time. Despite accusations of having a male-dominated culture and negative biases against female leaders, Mexico has become the first North American country to elect a woman as head of state. This is a clear culmination of a gender parity framework that has been in place for decades in the Latin American country.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Bloomberg. It's all too convenient to praise gender parity policies for this outcome when Sheinbaum is, in fact, just another female protégé appointed by a populist Latin American leader who can't run for re-election. Given that this story is reminiscent of Dilma Rousseff's rise in Brazil, one can only hope for better luck for Mexico.

Predictions