Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman elected president of Mexico. “He is calm, strict, reasonable and puts ethics above everything else.”

“I am not coming here alone, but with all Mexicans,” he declared. Claudia Scheinbaum was indeed elected President of Mexico on Sunday June 2nd. A historic victory for the former mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, who became the first woman to hold this position in the country. The 61-year-old left-wing candidate from the Morena party won almost 60% of the votes. He succeeds Andrés Manuel López Obrador (nicknamed “AMLO”), in power since 2018. Claudia Scheinbaum, born in 1962, has not always been active in politics. With a doctorate in environmental sciences, he first studied physics and then energy engineering at the University of Mexico. In the late 1980s, she married Carlos Imaz Gispert, an academic and founding member of the Democratic Revolution Party.

Both lived in the United States for four years, where Claudia joined Lawrence Berkeley’s laboratory. In 1994, the couple returned to Mexico. Then the scientist became a professor and researcher at the University of Mexico. It was in the early 2000s that this physics doctor, a climate change expert, crossed paths with AMLO. At the time, he was looking for his new environment secretary. When they meet in a cafe, AMLO rudely asks him: “I want to improve air quality, but I don’t know anything about it. Do you know how to do it?” The scientist decides to accept the challenge. And participates in the presidential campaigns of politicians. Before being elected, he was in charge of Mexico. A highly symbolic victory, if we are to believe Jimena Reyes, lawyer and Americas director of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Madame Figaro – Claudia Sheinbaum, who received almost 60% of the votes, officially became the first president of Mexico. How to explain this overwhelming victory?
Jimena Reyes – It is explained, on the one hand, by Claudia’s personality. The catchphrase used by Morena’s party at the start of her campaign was “Es Claudia”, meaning “It’s Claudia”. In other words, a calm, strict, reasonable woman who has a reputation for putting ethics above everything else. His victory, on the other hand, can be explained by the fact that it represents the continuity of AMLO’s government. He comes from the same party, Morena. And while AMLO has failed to make progress on inequality and poverty in certain areas, there has been real progress. This undoubtedly played a role in this election.

How did they receive the news of this victory in Mexico?
It’s very recent, but we’re seeing a very strong grassroots movement in favor of Claudia Sheinbaum. His election caused great joy. Even if she didn’t try to emphasize this, she is still the first female president of Mexico. This is a very symbolic victory, which was received with great enthusiasm by women.

Since 2006, more than 25,000 women have been victims of enforced disappearance in Mexico.

Jimena Reyes

The three pillars of the program are “education, renewable energy and women”. How does Claudia Scheinbaum hope to advance the cause of women’s rights in Mexico?
In his program, he presents eleven proposals related to the problem of sexual and gender-based violence. He particularly insisted on the fact that he not only wants to be a woman president, but also to develop actions in favor of women. He put forward the project that he implemented when he was the mayor of Mexico City.alert tempran“, the alarm of violence. This made it possible to identify risks in advance and reduced violence against women by 33% in Mexico City. Claudia Sheinbaum also promised to implement legislative reforms so that all violence against women, even if it is not femicide, is investigated. She was also concerned about women’s poverty and promised to establish an effective right to abortion and support for those who spent their lives caring for a family member. He intends to increase the length of maternity leave as well. But first and foremost, it is the issue of combating violence that will help advance the feminist cause in Mexico. The country is going through a real security crisis, which especially affects women. Since 2006, there have been more than 110,000 enforced disappearances.

In 2023, an average of 10 femicides per day were recorded in Mexico, according to the United Nations. What does this victory symbolize in a country particularly affected by violence against women?
Mexico is a country that suffers a lot from sexual violence, particularly femicide. Since 2006, more than 25,000 women have also been victims of enforced disappearance. According to surveys, 20% of Mexican women say they have experienced violence, specifically gender-based, in their lifetime, which is huge. Paradoxically, in a country with such a patriarchal streak, where organized crime is the prerogative of violent male gangs, a woman is chosen. At the same time we can also see the glass cliff theory (entrust more responsibilities to women in times of crisis, when the risk of failure is high, Editor’s Note;). We are in the midst of a serious security crisis regarding women, but also in general. It was then that the country decided to have female candidates. Moreover, Claudia’s rival, Xochitl Galves, is also a woman. For a long time, it was assumed that Morena’s candidate would be Marcelo Ebrard, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. But after a vote by all party members, Claudia Sheinbaum won. Then the campaign took a turn that people weren’t necessarily expecting.

Was the choice to nominate Claudia Sheinbaum a new strategy?
It was probably a gender reassignment issue. AMLO is the caricature of a politician, the pulpit who sits in front of journalists every morning and expresses his opinion about anything and everything, not always with great severity. Meeting this character who has been in politics all her life, we have a woman who was the mayor of Mexico City and also received people every morning. Except that he was trying to solve the specific problems that were presented to him. His approach is completely different from that of AMLO. He himself said that he will rule with facts. It is really another method of choosing a character opposite to AMLO, while being from the same party. Claudia Scheinbaum is someone who rules with reason and for whom politics is a means, not an end.