History in the Making: Claudia Sheinbaum Becomes Mexico’s First Female President

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the 61 year old Former Mexican city mayor is the new president of Mexico after winning 58.6 to 60 percent of the votes according to the Mexican electoral authority . She is also the first female president of the country making her win a historical victory in the Latin American country.She is a part of the ruling Morena party. Her opposite candidate was Xochitl Galve, who was the  Former Mayor of Miguel Hidalgo. The ruling party Morena also won in the Mexican city mayorship election with Clara Brugada as the next mayor of the Mexican city.

Reacting To her historical victory ,Sheinbaum posted a tweet in X sharing her thoughts for the country. She stated that “ “We have made possible the continuity and progress of the fourth transformation. I commit to you that I will not let you down. There is history, there is homeland, there is(are) people, and there is commitment.” ( translated from spanish)

Photo credit : tribuna de la bahia 

 The opposite candidate Xochitl Galve also shared her thoughts about her defeat in the race for the presidency. She tweeted in X that “ Being your candidate has been the greatest honour of my life. They will always count on me as a warrior who will fight for a country in which life, truth and freedom are respected. Let’s go ahead and long live Mexico!( translated from spanish )

Photo credit: queen city news 

Who is Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo ?

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo who was the former mayor of the Mexican city was born on 24 june 1962. She is also a scientist who received a PHD in energy engineering from the national autonomous university of Mexico.She advocated for sustainable development and environmental protection and also fighting against climate change.

Sheinbaum was born to a jewish family where both her parents were scientists.She pursued her undergraduation in physics from the national autonomous university of mexico where as a member of the university student council founded the party of democratic revolution (PDR).From 2000, she was the secretary of environment mexico city. And from the year 2015 , she also served as the mayor of Tlalpan city. 

Her stint as the mayor of the Mexican city from the year 2018 to 2023 made improvements in the field of environment, education and social issues. Sheinbaum has two children and also one grandchild. Her spouse is Jesús María Tarriba who is a financial risk specialist at the Bank of Mexico.  

Why is Mexico’s female president’s victory so significant ? 

The first female president of the country emerged after 70 years from the time when women were allowed to vote in Mexico. According to the Times magazine article tired “ The meaning of Mexico’s  first female president” , the article states that negative biases for the female leaders is double the times more in Mexico than in U.S or Canada. For women to emerge victorious from all the challenges that she faces due to gender stereotypes is new for the country.

Sheinbaum is a leader who always empowered women to bring in equality of all the genders throughout her political career. In 2019 , Sheinbaum made a policy to implement gender neutral uniforms in  state run schools. To bring in financial pay to the uncredited work done by women , she established a ‘national care system’ with new work opportunities for nurses and caretakers of the sick.

Along with these , there are some specific gender issues that have to be addressed in Mexico like femicide, gender violence and payment gap. Teenage pregnancy also had a massive rise in the country to a rate of 147,2279 births among teenagers.