MEXICO CITY: Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in on Tuesday as Mexico´s first woman president, inheriting a country beset by gang violence and economic uncertainty over controversial reforms passed by her powerful ruling party.
To cries of “Long live Claudia! Long live Mexico!” the 62-year-old former Mexico City mayor took the oath of office and received the presidential sash in Congress, with foreign dignitaries looking on, including US First Lady Jill Biden.
She will later attend a celebration in Mexico City´s main square as leader of the world´s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people, which has had 65 male presidents since independence.
Supporters began gathering from dawn on inauguration day, which authorities declared a national holiday.
“We arrived at five in the morning,” said Marta Ramirez, a housewife who came by bus from the central city of Leon.
A woman president “understands the people better,” she said.
Sheinbaum on several occasions has said “it´s time for women and transformation” in Mexico, a nation with a history of gender-based discrimination and violence, with around 10 women or girls murdered every day.
But having a woman president is no guarantee of a greater focus on women´s rights, said Maria Fernanda Bozmoski, a deputy director at the US-based Atlantic Council think tank.