Mexico's New President Is A Woman And A Tough Boss -

Claudia Sheinbaum's victory comes more than 70 years after women in the central American country first got the vote and the election was a violent one

- Martha McHardy

Claudia Sheinbaum has been elected Mexico’s first female president. The 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City was elected with between 58 percent and 60 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, staving off competition from her rival, Xochitl Galvez. Sheinbaum will replace her mentor, outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on 1 October.

Her election comes more than 70 years after women in Mexico were first given the vote, with her victory described by experts as a testament to how far the country known for its “macho culture” has come. However, although this year’s election has been hailed as a triumph for women, it was also one of the most violent in modern history, marked by the murders of 38 candidates.

Sheinbaum, whose Jewish maternal grandparents migrated to Mexico from Bulgaria to flee the Nazis, worked as an energy scientist before entering into politics. Following in the footsteps of her parents, who were also scientists, Sheinbaum studied physics before going on to receive a doctorate in energy engineering.

She spent years at a renowned research lab in California studying Mexican energy consumption patterns and became an expert on climate change, serving on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She went on to become secretary of the environment for Mexico City under Lopez Obrador, who was mayor of the capital at the time.

In 2018 she became the first female mayor of Mexico City, a post she held until 2023, when she stepped down to run for president. As a former ballet dancer, Sheinbaum has described herself as “obsessive” and “disciplined”. She has also earned a reputation for being a demanding boss, according to The NewYork Times.