MEXICO CITY: Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in Tuesday as Mexico’s first woman president, inheriting a country beset by gang violence and economic uncertainty over controversial reforms passed by her powerful ruling party. To cries of “Long live Claudia! Long live Mexico!” the 62-year-old former Mexico City mayor took the oath of office and received the presidential sash in Congress, with foreign dignitaries looking on — including US First Lady Jill Biden.

Sheinbaum told cheering lawmakers that, for the first time, “women have arrived to shape the destiny of our beautiful nation,” where around 10 women or girls are murdered every day. Supporters began gathering at dawn to celebrate the inauguration of the new leader of the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people, which has had 65 male presidents since independence. “I don’t arrive alone” but with “all the women of Mexico,” Sheinbaum told the flag-waving crowd in the capital’s main square after undergoing an Indigenous purification ritual. “No to racism, no to classism and no to machismo,” she said.

Marta Ramirez arrived at five in the morning after a bus journey from the central city of Leon to join the celebrations. A woman president “understands the people better,” the housewife said. Gina Montes de Oca, a 28-year-old social worker, said it was “a day of celebration,” calling the inauguration of Mexico’s first woman president “a historic change.” One high-profile absence at the ceremony was Spanish King Felipe VI, whom Sheinbaum refused to invite, accusing him of failing to acknowledge harm caused by colonization. In response, Spain announced it would boycott the inauguration, despite its strong economic and historic links with Mexico.

Popular predecessor retires

A scientist by training, Sheinbaum won a landslide victory in June elections with a vow to continue the left-wing reform agenda of outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a close ally. Lopez Obrador leaves the presidential palace after six years due to the country’s single-term limit, despite an approval rating of around 70 percent, largely thanks to his policies aimed at helping poorer Mexicans. He bequeaths Sheinbaum the leadership of a nation where murders and kidnappings occur daily and violent drug cartels control vast swaths of territory. Spiraling criminal violence, much of it linked to drug trafficking and gangs, has seen more than 450,000 people murdered in Mexico since 2006 and left more than 100,000 people missing.

While Sheinbaum has pledged to stick to the outgoing president’s controversial “hugs not bullets” strategy — using social policy to tackle crime at its roots — experts expect some changes in her approach. “It will be a modified version of ‘hugs not bullets’ that will be more reliant on intelligence and therefore more effective at getting things done,” said Professor Pamela Starr, an expert on Mexico at the University of Southern California.

Reassuring investors

The new president will also have to deal with the fallout from a row over newly passed judicial reforms that will make Mexico the world’s only country to elect all judges by popular vote. Dozens of judicial workers demonstrated on Tuesday morning near Congress — the latest in several weeks of protests.

Lopez Obrador argued the reforms were needed to clean up a “rotten” judiciary serving the interests of the political and economic elite. The changes, which critics argued would make it easier for politicians and organized crime to influence the courts, upset foreign investors as well as Mexico’s key trade partners: the United States and Canada.

Sheinbaum sought to allay such concerns, telling investors their money “will be safe” and pledging a “responsible fiscal policy.” The United States, Canada, and Mexico “know that economic cooperation strengthens the three nations,” she added. US President Joe Biden offered Sheinbaum his “heartfelt congratulations,” underscoring his country’s “deep political, economic, and cultural ties” with Mexico.

The United Nations human rights office said Sheinbaum’s presidency “sends a powerful message” about the crucial role of women in public office. At the same time, it voiced concern about the increased public safety role given to the military under Lopez Obrador and urged Sheinbaum to address the country’s missing persons crisis. — AFP