Who is Claudia Sheinbaum? Get to know ahead of inauguration as new president of Mexico
As Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's first woman to be president, awaits her inauguration on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in Mexico City, curiosity about her professional and political background has reached an international fever pitch.
As the standard bearer for the Movimiento Regeneración Nacional, or Morena Party, her political career has been characterized by policies that align with what many voters in Mexico regarded as a major left-wing populist political affiliation.
In a campaign that started March 1, then-candidate Sheinbaum ran on a platform as a staunch reformist, publicly stating to continue many of President Andres Manuel López Obrador's progressive policies. Many of the social programs proposed by Sheinbaum on the campaign trail revolved around economic issues like a minimum wage and the introduction of social programs, among others, like many already commonplace in the United States.
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The momentum of support by voters in Mexico precipitated a 32-point landslide victory on June 2. That represented one of the largest margins of victory in the nation's history.
When will the inauguration be?
Sheinbaum's inauguration will be take place on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 8 a.m. MT/9 a.m. CT at the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro in Mexico City.
The ceremony will take place during a general session of congress, with federal officials and senators attending the joint session of the legislative body.
The event is slated to last three hours and has several speakers scheduled.
From where is Claudia Sheinbaum?
Sheinbaum was born in Mexico City with her family name, Pardo, on June 24, 1962.
Her Sephardic Jewish grandparents on her mother's side emigrated to Mexico from Bulgaria in the 1940s amid the looming Holocaust of World War II. She has celebrated the major Jewish holidays throughout her life because of her upbringing.
Annie Pardo Cemo, her mother, is a biologist and professor emerita at the Faculty of Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and her father, Carlos Sheinbaum Yoselevitz, worked as a chemical engineer. This focus on such demanding academic careers led her to study physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she earned an undergraduate degree in 1989.
A master's degree and a doctorate in energy engineering would follow within the next six years.
Mexican politics and Claudia Sheinbaum
Given her environmental expertise, her tenure as secretary of the environment of Mexico City in 2000 seemed kismet. During her term, efforts were made to establish electric vehicle infrastructure and implement mass transit plans to assess and revamp traffic woes.
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Not long before, she would join former President López Obrador's cabinet as secretariat of environment and natural resources, as he announced in his bid for the 2012 presidential election.
Sheinbaum's stint as the mayor of Tlalpan was the launchpad to serving the head of government of Mexico City on July 1, 2018. Her rise in the country's political scene before her presidential announcement would be capped by a five-year term as the leader of one of the world's largest cities.