Claudia Sheinbaum assumes as the first female president of Mexico

The leftist Claudia Sheinbaum assumed this Tuesday as the first female president in the history of Mexico. In a ceremony held in the Chamber of Deputies, attended by nearly twenty international leaders and hundreds of representatives from countries and multilateral organizations, she took the oath for the 2024-2030 term. No official representative of the Spanish State was present as King Felipe was not invited and the Government of Pedro Sánchez decided not to send any delegate in protest.

"Honorable Congress of the Union, people of Mexico, I promise to uphold and enforce the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws derived from it, and to loyally and patriotically perform the duties of president of the republic entrusted to me by the people," declared Sheinbaum. The outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), handed over the presidential sash to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ifigenia Martínez, who placed the tricolor garment on Sheinbaum, the first woman to govern the country after more than 200 years as a republic. Sheinbaum assumed office amid chants of "president, president" and "it's an honor with Claudia today," echoing "it's an honor to be with Obrador."

After the session in Congress, Sheinbaum headed to the National Palace, where she had lunch with invited leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Chilean President Gabriel Boric; Colombian President Gustavo Petro; Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel; and Honduran President Xiomara Castro. Also present were personalities such as U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell.

In the afternoon, she received the staff of command from indigenous peoples at Zócalo in Mexico City, the country's largest public square, where she will have her first mass event as head of state and delivered a speech.

Mexican ruling party legislators highlighted the historic nature of Claudia Sheinbaum's inauguration. During the start of the solemn ceremony in which she assumed office, Ricardo Monreal, coordinator of deputies from the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena), emphasized in his speech that "Sheinbaum will become the first head of Government and head of State of the Mexican Republic" to govern from 2024 to 2030 after 66 male presidents. "Mexico achieved a peaceful, exemplary civic feat; most people entrusted their confidence in us, reaffirmed hope, and created conditions for an overwhelming victory," Monreal stated.

The leaders of various parliamentary groups expressed their positions moments before Sheinbaum received the presidential sash handed over by outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Congress.

Sheinbaum's allied formations—Morena, Labor Party (PT), and Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM)—called for continuing with the "fourth transformation" in the country's history that began under López Obrador's perspective. Reginaldo Sandoval, leader of PT deputies, noted that Sheinbaum "is not just any woman," but "a leftist woman, made in the left, formed in the left, with leftist principles and undoubtedly a builder of the 'fourth transformation' second floor." "Today we say that Mexico is different; we have indeed started building a new regime; we are changing the State. I have no doubt that the Executive Power transformed to serve the people," he declared.

Meanwhile, Manuel Velasco, leader of PVEM in the Senate, highlighted that last June 2nd Sheinbaum also became "the most voted president in the country's history" with nearly 36 million votes. He also emphasized that the former head of Government of Mexico City (2018-2023) is a scientist, environmentalist, prepared woman formed in social struggle.

Early on, hundreds of people awaited the popular celebration planned at Zócalo. On a festive day, Marta Rosa Ramírez Masías, a housewife who arrived at five in the morning after a long bus trip from León (central Mexico), said she was pleased to have a president who "understands citizens better."

"It's time for women and transformation," Sheinbaum has often said in a country with a heavy history of discrimination and gender violence where about ten women are murdered daily.