Previously serving as Mexico City’s first female mayor, she will succeed her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador aka Amlo of the Morena party at the National Palace in a few months.
Before entering politics, she was an accomplished environmental scientist who served on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
However, her opponent and second-placed candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, suggested Ms Sheinbaum would not be her own woman and would rule under Obrador’s shadow.
Vote for Sheinbaum, get Amlo, her critics suggested.
Bur Sheinbaum dismissed the claims stating, “I will govern with the same principles as Mr. López Obrador, and that’s a good thing for Mexicans,” she told the BBC.
Mr López Obrador himself addressed the allegations stating that he had no intention of getting involved in her administration as he looked forward to retiring at his ranch in the southern state of Chiapas.
Before entering politics, Sheinbaum worked as an environmental scientist on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Claudia Sheinbaum won the Mexican presidential election under extraordinary circumstances marked by violence. The election saw the murder of at least 38 candidates and incidents of violence at polling stations, particularly in Puebla state, where two people were killed.
The high homicide rates in Mexico have continued to surge, with over 185,000 deaths during the tenure of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Sheinbaum, however, stated that she aimed to reduce the murder rate from 23.3 homicides for every 100,000 residents to about 19.4 per 100,000 by 2027.
Claudia Sheinbaum faces several significant challenges as Mexico’s new president. The state-owned oil company is heavily indebted, and AMLO’s new oil refinery project is not yet operational, with other infrastructure projects unfinished, over budget, and unprofitable. She also inherits a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP and ongoing costs for AMLO’s building and benefit programs, which limit financial flexibility. Additionally, the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission is unreliable and polluting, particularly during droughts and heatwaves, leading to imminent water and energy shortages.
However, in a post on X on June 3rd, she wrote: “We have made possible the continuity and progress of the fourth transformation. I commit to you that I will not let you down. There is history, there is homeland, there is people, and there is commitment.”
