The first woman is president. Scientist at the helm of Mexico

The president of Mexico is a mother of two, a professor of bioengineering and the former mayor of Mexico City, a city of more than nine million people.

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo became the first female president in the history of Mexico.

Mexicans just call her Claudia. She is 61 years old, a mother of two, a professor of bioengineering and the former mayor of Mexico City, a city of more than nine million people. Claudia Sheinbaum will officially take over the position of the country’s president on October 1.

Not an easy job

Sheinbaum will lead Mexico’s 130 million people under challenging conditions: 36% of the population lives below the poverty line, there is an alarming rate of femicide, ongoing violence from organized crime groups, and increasing US border tension.

For the past six years, Mexico has been led by a fellow member of Sheinbaum’s party, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (often called Amlo). During his reign, he was able to stabilize the economy and instill optimism in the majority of Mexicans. About 60% of the votes cast for Sheinbaum, in fact, can be considered a trust rating for Amlo and his ideas, which Sheinbaum intends to advance.

The presidential term in Mexico is limited to six years, so Amlo himself cannot participate in the presidential race. He is considered Sheinbaum’s political mentor, and many attribute his electoral success to it.

However, Claudia also has something new to offer. He is an award-winning scientist with a knack for applying his research to public policy.

It all started in Mexico City

When Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Amlo) became mayor of Mexico City, he invited Sheinbaum to the post of environmental minister in the new city administration.

Amlo then assigned Sheinbaum two tasks: clean up the air in Mexico City, which at the time was one of the most polluted cities in the world, and build the second level of the capital’s main highway. He accomplished both tasks.

When the Amlo administration lost the 2006 election, Sheinbaum returned to science and became part of the team that won the Nobel Peace Prize for climate change research.

But politics did not leave him alone. In 2006 and 2012, he was part of the headquarters of Amlo’s presidential campaigns, which, however, ended in failure both times.

In 2015, he himself became a political player, winning the elections to the position of head of the administration of Tlalpan, the largest district of Mexico City, where he grew up.

Three years later, when Amlo became president of Mexico, Sheinbaum took over as mayor of Mexico City, making him one of the potential successors to succeed him.

Scandals as mayor

In the 2017 Puebla earthquake, estimated to have a magnitude of 7.1, 17 children died when a poorly constructed school collapsed.

The opposition and victims’ families blamed Sheinbaum for not closing the school when the problems first became known.

Then in 2021, a subway accident kills 27 people. Sheinbaum launched an investigation that found construction deficiencies between 2014 and 2015, when his party governed the city. Again, many blamed him for people’s deaths.

In the current presidential campaign, these scandals have resurfaced. In addition, accusations have been brought against him, although currently unproven, of plagiarism in his academic works.

Also, many opponents call him “Amlo’s puppet.”

Fight the coronavirus

Despite all the scandals, more than 60% of Mexico City residents voted for the Sheinbaum administration. The crime curve in the capital is slowly decreasing, and the length of bicycle paths, on the contrary, began to increase. In addition, the city now has the longest cable car in the world, 4.8 km long.

But his main merit is considered to stop the coronavirus epidemic in Mexico City. This most clearly demonstrated how his leadership style differed from Amlo’s.

While Sheinbaum imposed a general quarantine in Mexico City as the virus spread, Amlo was convinced there was no reason to fear a new disease. When he started wearing a mask, he didn’t, and while he was advocating for mass vaccination, Amlo was very skeptical about vaccinations.

However, this did not stop him from being chosen in his search for a successor.