Claudia Sheinbaum to be sworn in as 1st female president of Mexico, a
country with pressing problems
Send a link to a friend
[October 01, 2024]
By MARÍA VERZA, MEGAN JANETSKY and MARK STEVENSON
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Claudia Sheinbaum will take the oath of office
Tuesday as Mexico’s first female president in more than 200 years of
independence, promising to protect an expanded social safety net and
fight for the poor like her predecessor, but facing pressing problems.
The 62-year-old scientist-turned-politician will receive a country with
a number of immediate challenges, foremost among them stubbornly high
levels of violence, a sluggish economy and hurricane-battered Acapulco.
Sheinbaum romped to victory in June with nearly 60% of the vote,
propelled largely by the sustained popularity of her political mentor,
former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
He took office six years ago declaring “For the good of all, first the
poor,” and promising historical change from the neoliberal economic
policies of his predecessors. Sheinbaum promised continuity from his
popular social policies to controversial constitutional reforms to the
judiciary and National Guard rammed through during his final days in
office.
Despite her pledge of continuity, she is a very different personality.
“López Obrador was a tremendously charismatic president and many times
that charisma allowed him to cover up some political errors that Claudia
Sheinbaum will not have that possibility of doing,” said Carlos Pérez
Ricart, a political analyst at Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and
Teaching. “So, where López Obrador was charismatic, Claudia Sheinbaum
will have to be effective.”
He is not leaving her an easy situation.
Her first trip as president will be to the flood-stricken Pacific coast
resort of Acapulco.
Hurricane John, which struck as a Category 3 hurricane last week and
then reemerged into the ocean and struck again as a tropical storm,
caused four days of incredibly heavy rain that killed at least 17 people
along the coast around Acapulco. Acapulco was devastated in October 2023
by Hurricane Otis, and had not recovered from that blow when John hit.
Sheinbaum must also deal with raging violence in the cartel-dominated
northern city of Culiacan, where factional fighting within the Sinaloa
cartel broke out after drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín
Guzmán López were apprehended in the United States after they flew there
in a small plane on July 25.
López Obrador has long sought to avoid confronting Mexico’s drug cartels
and has openly appealed to the gangs to keep the peace among themselves,
but the limitations of that strategy have become glaringly apparent in
Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, where gun battles have raged on
the city’s streets. Local authorities and even the army — which López
Obrador has relied on for everything — have essentially admitted that
the fighting will only end when the cartel bosses decide to end it.
[to top of second column]
|
Ruling party presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum
addresses supporters at the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, after
the National Electoral Institute announced she held an irreversible
lead in the election, June 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
But that’s only the latest hotspot.
Drug-related violence is surging from Tijuana in the north to
Chiapas in the south, displacing thousands.
While Sheinbaum inherits a huge budget deficit, unfinished
construction projects and a burgeoning bill for her party’s cash
hand-out programs — all of which could send financial markets
tumbling — perhaps her biggest looming concern is the possibility of
a victory for Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
Trump has already vowed to slap 100% tariffs on vehicles made in
Mexico. Though that would likely violate the current
U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, there are other things Trump
could do to make life difficult for Sheinbaum, including his pledge
of massive deportations.
Things with its northern neighbor were already tense after López
Obrador said he was putting relations with the U.S. embassy “on
pause” after public criticism of the proposed judicial overhaul.
First lady Jill Biden struck an optimistic tone for relations with
the incoming Sheinbaum administration saying at a reception Monday
that, “Under Dr. Sheinbaum’s presidency I know we will continue to
build a more prosperous, safe and democratic region — and take the
steps in our U.S.-Mexico partnership."
There are areas where Sheinbaum could try to take Mexico in a new
direction. For example, she has a Ph.D. in energy engineering and
has spoken of the need to address climate change. López Obrador
built a massive new oil refinery and poured money into the
state-owned oil company. But his budget commitments do not leave her
much room to maneuver.
Jennifer Piscopo, professor of gender and politics at the Royal
Holloway University of London who has studied Latin America for
decades, said Mexico electing its first female leader is important
because it will show girls they can do it too, but it can also
create unrealistic expectations.
“Woman firsts are powerful symbols, but they do not gain magic
power,” she said. “Especially when the governance challenges are so
large, expecting magic solutions overnight can also generate
outsized disappointment.”
All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved |