Mexico's new President: who is she?

Who is Claudia Sheinbaum and what does she stand for? Miles Salter investigates.

Claudia Sheinbaum has made history by becoming Mexico's first female President. The achievement is remarkable given that Mexico is not known for being one of the most feminist nations in the world. The former mayor of Mexico City drew between 58% and 60% of the vote. She has become Mexico's first female President by a huge margin.

It's a big moment for Mexico and for her personally. Sheinbaum's experience as mayor will provide good experience in politics for the expanded platform she now occupies. Sheinbaum replaces her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on 1 October.

Despite the remarkable achievement of breaking through in a male-dominated culture, Mexicans may wonder what type of leader Sheinbaum will be. Although there were a lot of words during the campaign, there were few policy details and not many specifics about how she will govern.

Sheinbaum's agenda is to build he 'Fourth Transformation', building on three previous big changes in Mexico. What does this mean? "It means more rights, a welfare state, education, health, access to housing, and that a living wage is a right, not a privilege," she has said.

Sheinbaum comes from a Jewish family, but has stated that she is not religious. Her maternal grandparents were Jews who immigrated to Mexico from Bulgaria before the Holocaust, while her paternal grandparents had fled from Lithuania in the 1920s. Sheinbaum's parents were born in Mexico.

Some commentators are noting what this moment means for Jewish presence in South America. “The election of Claudia Sheinbaum as Mexico’s first female Jewish president is a benchmark for the Jews of Latin America, whose presence in the region goes back to the arrival of Columbus and his crew at the end of the 15th century,” author Ilan Stavans, who also shares a mixed Mexican-Jewish background, told NBC News' Nicole Acevido. During the campaign, questions were asked about her real heritage. Sheinbaum worked as an accomplished environmental scientist. She served on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Sheinbaum's arrival on the international stage will be welcomed by those who follow progressive politics. "Her loyalties are with the oppressed and downtrodden. In the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, she sides with the former without rejecting the latter, favouring a two-state solution, which these days appears more untenable that in recent memory," Stavans said.

Miles Salter is a writer and musician based in York, UK. He likes Philip Larkin, early Bruce Springsteen albums and cheese. Need help with copy? Drop him a line: [email protected]