Claudia Sheinbaum sworn in as Mexico’s first female president

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday took office.

Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s former mayor who is a member of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s leftist Morena party, on June 2 defeated Xóchitl Gálvez of the opposition National Action Party and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the Citizens’ Movement.

Sheinbaum, who is also a scientist, is Mexico’s first female and first Jewish president.

First lady Jill Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Guzman, and U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) are among the American officials who attended Sheinbaum’s inauguration.

“Mexico and the United States are strong partners and close neighbors and we share deep political, economic, and cultural ties,” said President Joe Biden in a statement in which he congratulated Sheinbaum on her inauguration. “The United States is committed to continuing to work with Mexico to deliver the democratic, prosperous, and secure future that the people of our two countries deserve.” 

Sheinbaum before the election released a policy paper that reiterated her support for LGBTQ rights in Mexico. The platform, among other things, reiterated “absolute respect for diverse gender identities” and pledged to create “public policies to (end impunity) and to eradicate hate crimes and violence against LGBTIQ+ communities because of gender and sexual orientation.”