“It’s the time for women and transformation,” the trained scientist has repeated since her overwhelming victory under the label of the left-wing Movement for National Regeneration (Morena) on June 2. With nearly 36 million votes and 60% of the vote, the heiress of the ruling left is the best elected to the presidency in the history of the country.
“Long” way. Ms. Sheinbaum, 62, will become the first “presidenta” of Mexico – after 65 men at the head of state – by taking the oath at 11:01 a.m. (5:01 p.m. GMT) in front of the deputies and senators gathered in Congress, according to the official program. She will then gird the presidential sash which will be given to her by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Ifigenia Martinez, 94, a left-wing activist who inspired the president.
In July, Ms. Martinez posted a photo with Ms. Sheinbaum on X, with this comment: “The road has been long, with many challenges, but we have been persistent. When progressive women unite, there is nothing stopping us.”
The former mayor of Mexico City takes over from her very popular predecessor and mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known as “AMLO”), who launched her into politics in 2000 as deputy for the environment at city hall. from Mexico. “I am going to give the presidential sash to an exceptional woman, to a humanist, to a woman full of love, humility, good feelings” welcomed “AMLO”, Monday, during her 1,438th and last daily press conference.
Constitutional reforms. Mr. Lopez Obrador leaves Ms. Sheinbaum a legacy of several constitutional reforms, including one very controversial, providing for the election of judges by popular vote from mid-2025. The text was approved and promulgated. “We are the guardians of the Constitution,” protested around a hundred opponents of this reform of the judicial power gathered in Mexico City on Monday evening. Until Sunday, Ms. Sheinbaum followed the outgoing president on his farewell tour, from Sinaloa and Nayarit (northwest) to the Yucatan Peninsula (southeast).
The wife of the American president, Jill Biden, is one of the distinguished guests at the inauguration ceremony, as are the main left-wing presidents of Latin America (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for Brazil, Gustavo Petro for Colombia, Gabriel Boric for Chile).
On the other hand, the headquarters of Spain, Mexico’s first European partner, will remain empty. Madrid decided to boycott the ceremony because King Felipe VI was not invited. The left in power in Mexico accuses him of never having responded to a letter from the outgoing president asking him to recognize the “damage” caused by Spanish colonization five centuries ago.
400,000 dead. After a lunch at the National Palace with her guests, Claudia Sheinbaum will participate in a popular event on the Zocalo, the largest square in Latin America, under the windows of the presidency. Hurricanes, security, economy, relations with the United States: the hot issues will await him immediately after the festivities. As of Wednesday, Ms. Sheinbaum must go to Acapulco on the Pacific to “make an assessment” of the damage caused by Hurricane John, which left 15 dead in the country in its path.
Security will be the main challenge faced by the president during her mandate. “If organized crime and violence remain out of control, and penetrate all sectors of society, the economy and institutions will suffer,” worries Michael Shifter, of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington.
In total, Mexico has recorded more than 400,000 deaths and some 100,000 missing since former President Felipe Calderon launched the army against the cartels in December 2006, with the effect of multiplying criminal gangs.
© Agence France-Presse
