Mexico’s current president is a woman and the first in the nation’s history. Claudia Sheinbaum was on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, sworn into the number one position in the North American country. She is now the 66th president and the new object of the hopes of over 130 million people. Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about one of Mexico’s most popular leaders.
Claudia Sheinbaum’s emergence as president was pretty expected. She had many factors in her favor leading up to the highly-anticipated June elections. The 62-year-old, who is a climate scientist, had the support of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who earned the goodwill of most of the population for his impressive social programs.
On her way to victory, she had to stave off opposition from Xóchitl Gálvez, her biggest rival who is also a woman. Sheinbaum led in the polls all through the campaign. As the results emerged, the polls proved to be correct as she coasted to victory with over 60% of the votes.
Before the election, Sheinbaum, who speaks English fluently, spoke about what the gender of the two leading candidates meant for Mexico. “It’s a symbol for Mexico. I think it’s also a symbol for the world,” she told the press. “Mexico has been called a machista country for many years. But Mexicans are now governed by many women, and that’s a change,” she added.
Sheinbaum isn’t new to politics; she was the former mayor of Mexico City who has surmounted the harsh hurdles that once plagued women’s participation in governance. But in the last decade, things have changed considerably. Women now have an equal share of cabinet positions as men as well as high governorship representation.
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Women in Mexico Can Now Dream Bigger
Sheinbaum wants to inspire more hope among the female population. “I see young girls who are excited that a woman is going to be president. And it changes the culture for women and for men,” she told journalists before the election.
Mexico is notorious for a high crime rate. Unfortunately, women have been considerably the biggest victims. On average, the nation’s crime rate takes the lives of 11 women every day. Sheinbaum, who is the political daughter of the outgoing president, received knocks from her closest rival, Gálvez, who referred to her as a puppet.
But Sheinbaum wasn’t ashamed of the tag. Instead, she rode on Obrador’s popularity. She promised to continue Obrador’s poverty alleviation schemes, such as student grants and universal state pension.
Although her planned policies align with those of the immediate past president, she has proven to be unique in her thinking. In contrast to Obrador’s populist and charismatic approach, Sheinbaum seems to be more objective and analytical.
This difference was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Obrador was more carefree in his approach and even underplayed the importance of testing, Sheinbaum was more serious. She preached social distancing and invested in Mexico City’s testing capacity.
What Nationality Is the New President of Mexico?
Claudia Sheinbaum isn’t just the first female president of Mexico, she is also the first president of Jewish ancestry. Her grandparents came to Mexico from Lithuania and Bulgaria back in the day. She has made it known how proud she is of her Jewish heritage even though she shares no religious ties. President Claudia Sheinbaum is also an accomplished academician.
She holds a Ph.D. in energy engineering and has also gained an international reputation. Sheinbaum once studied at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in northern California. She was also part of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The group later jointly won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize alongside former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
Her entrance into the Mexican political arena began in 2000. Newly-elected Mexico City mayor Obrador appointed her as minister of environment. She later contested for the position after he left office and emerged victorious.
Despite that, the presidential seat is a different ball game entirely. The nation’s challenges are still overwhelming, meaning that she has a herculean task ahead of her. Notable among them are the high spate of cartel violence that has led to most mexico murders and the worrisome budget deficit Obrador left behind.
However, she has vowed to address these concerns, as well as many others. In her inauguration speech, Claudia Sheinbaum promised to expand the grants program for women and children, tame food and gasoline prices, and shore up business investment.
How Many Children Does Claudia Sheinbaum Have?
Claudia Sheinbaum is a mother of two children. At the age of 26, and one year after her marriage, she gave birth to her first and only biological child, Mariana, a daughter. However, her husband had a son from a previous marriage named Rodrigo.
Sheinbaum and her husband raised both children with equal love and attention. She maintains a close relationship with them to date, and most of her biographies mention that she has two children.
Mariana is now 36 years old and has a master’s degree in literature theory and comparative literature from the University of Barcelona. Rodrigo, 42, equally bagged a master’s degree in the arts in Valencia, Spain. He has a son, Pablo, making Sheinbaum a grandmother.
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Who Is the Current First Gentleman of Mexico?
Claudia Sheinbaum’s first husband was Carlos Imaz Gispert. She met him in 1986 when she was 24, and they got married the next year. He is an accomplished politician who was one of the founders of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). He was married to Sandra Alarcon, but they both divorced after the birth of their son, Rodrigo.
However, they divorced in 2016. In 2023, Sheinbaum married Jesus Maria Tarriba, a financial risk analyst at the Bank of Mexico, and he is the current first gentleman of Mexico.
Was Claudia Sheinbaum Born in Mexico?
Claudia Sheinbaum was born in Mexico City in 1962. Her parents from both sides were Jewish. One set of grandparents migrated to Mexico from Lithuania, while the other came from Bulgaria.
Sheinbaum grew up in Mexico and even participated in the student protests against government intervention in education policies in the 1980s. She got a bachelor’s degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico before moving to California.
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