Mexico: Sheinbaum officially inaugurated as first president

Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was officially inaugurated Tuesday as the first president in the history of Mexico since independence in 1821, succeeding the very popular Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

“I am a mother, a grandmother, a scientist, and a woman of faith, and from today, by the will of the people of Mexico, president,” Claudia Sheinbaum, 62, said after taking the oath of office before the deputies and senators gathered in congress.

“I do not arrive alone, we all arrive,” added the trained physicist, in homage to the famous or anonymous women of Mexico, a phrase already used during her victory in the election. In June, she won the presidential election with almost 60% of the votes under the label of the ruling left-wing party Movement for National Regeneration (Morena) and its allies.

With nearly 36 million votes, she is the best elected in the history of the country, buoyed by the popularity of the outgoing president. Morena and his allies have a qualified majority in Parliament allowing them to modify the Constitution without opposition.

“First the poor” or even “republican austerity”: the president of the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world (129 million inhabitants) has broken down her program into ten principles, based on the results of her predecessor.

During her inauguration speech, she repeated her method on the thorny issue of security and the fight against narco-violence: more information and investigations, “reinforcement of the National Guard”, more coordination between the authorities, zero impunity.

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 the number of armed mafias.

“The authorities should really redouble their efforts to tackle the issue of the missing in Mexico,” the United Nations human rights office warned in a statement. “We are concerned about the growing role of the military in public security,” adds the UN body, which nevertheless welcomes the arrival of a woman at the head of Mexico.

The National Guard will come under the control of Defense, according to a law promulgated by the outgoing president on Monday.

“Our government will guarantee all freedoms,” assured Claudia Sheinbaum, believing that “those who say that there will be authoritarianism are lying.” “Be certain that the investments of national and foreign shareholders will be safe in our country,” she insisted.

The ex-mayor of Mexico City takes power in the middle of a controversy caused by a reform of the judicial power approved and promulgated by his predecessor. An almost unique case in the world, the reform provides for the election of judges by popular vote from June 2025, which worries the United States in the name of the legal security of private investments.

Mexico and the United States “share deep political, economic and cultural ties”, underlined American President Joe Biden in a message on the occasion of the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum. The United States “is committed to continuing to work with Mexico,” he added, welcoming that his wife Jill Biden is at the head of the American delegation present in Mexico for the inauguration.

After her speech to Congress, President Sheinaum received her guests for lunch at the National Palace, seat of the presidency, including Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Chilean Gabriel Boric.

The party is also in the streets on this holiday. Thousands of people followed the inauguration ceremony on screens installed in the central Zocalo square, where the president must go at 5 p.m. (1 a.m. in Switzerland).

“It’s historic,” declared Maria Diaz Lopez, 77, very moved to see a woman president. Coming from Oaxaca (south), Natalia Ramirez Nicolas, 52, hopes that she will continue “programs for the elderly, scholarships for students”.

The ex-mayor of Mexico City takes over from his mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who leaves power with a popularity of more than 70%.

Hurricanes, security, economy, relations with the United States: the hot issues await the president immediately after the festivities. She will travel to Acapulco on Wednesday to “make an assessment” of the damage caused by Hurricane John, which left 15 dead in the country in its path, she recalled in her inauguration speech.