In a country led by men for more than two centuries, Claudia Sheinbaum disrupted the norm when she took office on October 1 as Mexico’s 66th president. In addition to being the first female president, Sheinbaum is also the first president of Jewish heritage in Mexico’s history. She triumphed in the June elections with the largest margin of victory since Mexico transitioned to democracy in 1917, obtaining roughly 60 percent of the vote.
Sheinbaum studied at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in northern California, receiving a Ph.D. in engineering. She participated in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, where she shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 2007. Colleagues say she is analytical, disciplined, and data-driven. She initiated her political career as former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s environmental minister, after he was elected mayor of Mexico City in 2000. Shortly after, Obrador ascended to the presidency, and when his tenure terminated, Sheinbaum pledged to continue his legacy. She has insisted that she will have parallel priorities and policies as him not because she is his puppet, but because she genuinely affirms his values and believes in his actions as president.
Despite Obrador and Sheinbaum’s similar viewpoints, Sheinbaum’s angle on environmental sustainability marks a pivot from Obrador. Her platform calls for electric-powered public transit, promotes the use and production of electric vehicles, and emphasizes renewable energy production through solar, wind, and hydropower. Obrador actively blocked renewable energy projects during his presidency. Additionally, the two presidents have grappled with the pandemic differently: Sheinbaum tested citizens for COVID aggressively, while Obrador's approach was more laid-back. Moreover, when fighting crime, the former invested in intelligence and the police, while the latter relied on the military.
While Sheinbaum is stepping into office with considerable power in her hands, she will have to contend with a multitude of forces that may constrain her. Sheinbaum will face pressure to show progress in the fight against increasingly powerful drug cartels, which retain their sway over large swaths of Mexico. While homicides declined modestly during the Obrador administration, reports of extortion and disappearances have risen since 2018. Killings, including mass murders, are near the highest levels ever recorded. In recent weeks, violence between warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel has caused a spike in deaths and kidnappings in northwest Mexico, bringing life in cities such as Culicán to a standstill. It will also be up to Sheinbaum to deal with the consequences of the constitutional amendments that Obrador pushed through in the last weeks of his administration. Critics warn that one of them, under which thousands of judges are to be elected by popular vote as soon as next year, could erode judicial independence.
Despite these adversities, Sheinbaum has conceived measures to mitigate issues in Mexico. Regarding security complications, she has signaled that she has devised a plan to create a new intelligence agency, with the ability to investigate criminal cases and replicate the approach she adopted as head of government in Mexico City. In addition, she announced she would fund all women ages 60 to 64 with a cash payment and create an anti-femicide prosecutor’s office to combat the high levels of gender-based violence and misogyny in Mexico. Starting next year, 20,000 doctors and nurses would begin visiting the homes of senior Mexicans, to reverse the massive drop in access to public health care seen in recent years.
Spanish teacher Ana Flores commended Sheinbaum's work, saying, “This moment provides an excellent opportunity to engage students in discussions about social change, representation, and the ongoing fight for equal rights across Latin America. It’s a critical moment for us to reflect on how history and culture influence our views on leadership and motivate the students to see how they, too, can contribute to shaping the future.”