7 things you should know about Mexico’s first female president

1. She was the first female mayor of Mexico’s capital, Ciudad de México

Prior to making history as the nation’s first female president, Sheinbaum was the governor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023. While taking on the role, she also made history as the first female mayor of Mexico City. She first entered the political sphere in 2000 when Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), former Mexican president and Mexico City governor, appointed her as environment secretary for the country’s capital. In 2015 she also made history as the first woman elected for the district of Tlalpan in Mexico City.

During her governing role in Mexico City, Sheinbaum successfully reduced homicides and other violent crimes, with intentional homicides dropping by 51% during her tenure. She improved public transportation with projects like the Cablebús and expanded bike lanes, targeting underserved areas. However, these achievements were overshadowed by accidents in the city’s metro, including a deadly collapse on Line 12. She launched initiatives like “Pilares,” which provided community spaces for education and skills training in marginalized areas. While some programs were celebrated, others, like the controversial replacement of daycare services with cash handouts, were criticized.

2. Claudia Sheinbaum studied at UC Berkeley

The politician also has ties to American universities, more specifically, the University of California, Berkeley. Sheinbaum spent her time at UC Berkeley as a researcher while studying for her PhD at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in the 1990s.

She spent four years at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), where she worked in the Energy Technologies Area. During her tenure, Sheinbaum analyzed energy-use in buildings and the Mexican transportation sector, contributing to research in sustainable energy practices. This academic and research experience at Berkeley, along with her Ph.D. in Energy Engineering, shaped her focus on environmental sustainability and energy policy throughout her political career, particularly during her tenure as Mexico City’s governor.

3. 2007 Nobel Prize winner

Claudia Sheinbaum was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) team that, along with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

The prize recognized their efforts to build and disseminate knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay the groundwork for the measures needed to counteract it. As a researcher and environmental scientist, Sheinbaum contributed to the IPCC’s work on energy efficiency and climate policy. Her work played a role in the international understanding of global warming and its solutions. The IPCC’s reports were instrumental in bringing global attention to the dangers of human-induced climate change and the measures needed to address it. Sheinbaum’s research focused on sustainable energy practices, including energy efficiency in buildings and transportation, as well as policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

4. Protests at Stanford

In the early 1990s, Claudia Sheinbaum lived in California with her family while conducting research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. During her time there, Sheinbaum experienced what it meant to be an academic as an immigrant living in the United States. She got involved with campus protests including one against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that had been criticized by the left for their opposition to Mexican industries and agriculture.

A viral photo from The Stanford Daily’s front page in 1991 shows Sheinbaum holding a sign that reads “Fair trade and democracy now!” as she protests against a speech given by the Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari at Stanford University. At the time, Sheinbaum and many left-leaning Mexicans believed that NAFTA would harm Mexican industries and agriculture.

5. First president with a Jewish background

Claudia Sheinbaum’s election as Mexico’s first female president also marks her as the country’s first Jewish president. Sheinbaum comes from a Jewish family; her maternal grandparents immigrated from Bulgaria, and her paternal grandparents fled from Lithuania before the Holocaust. However, Sheinbaum does not practice the religion and identifies with her Jewish heritage primarily in cultural terms.

Her presidency represents a noteworthy moment for the Jewish community in Mexico, given the country’s predominantly Catholic population.

Given her Jewish background, Sheinbaum’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict is complex and has evolved over time. She supports the two-state solution and has previously criticized Israeli military actions, particularly during the 2014 Gaza conflict, condemning the killing of Palestinian civilians. However, since the recent violence beginning in October 2023, she has faced criticism for her silence regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, condemning only the initial attacks by Hamas without addressing the subsequent violence.

However, Sheinbaum has expressed her stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict in the past. In a 2009 op-ed piece with ‘La Jornada’, a Mexican newspaper, Sheinbaum expressed her frustration regarding the three-week war that Israel conducted against the Palestinian enclave.

“Because of my Jewish origin, because of my love for Mexico, and because I feel like a citizen of the world, I share with millions the desire for justice, equality, fraternity and peace, and therefore, I can only see with horror the images of the state bombings…No reason justifies the murder of Palestinian civilians. Nothing, nothing, nothing, can justify the murder of a child,” writes Sheinbaum.

6. Partido Morena (party coalitions in this election)

The Morena party, short for Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (National Regeneration Movement), was founded in 2011 by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who later became the President of Mexico in 2018.

The Morena party is Mexico’s largest left-wing political party, characterized by its anti-neoliberal and populist stance. It emphasizes human rights, ethnic and cultural diversity, and environmental issues.

In the recent elections, Morena formed a coalition with several other left-leaning parties to bolster their electoral chances and ensure a unified front against opposition candidates. This collaboration allowed them to effectively leverage their combined resources and voter bases, contributing to Claudia Sheinbaum’s significant victory and reinforcing the party’s influence in Mexican politics.

The recent elections have not only reinforced Morena’s dominance at the state level but also enabled the continuation of its presidential legacy with Claudia Sheinbaum, who won with over 59% of the votes.

7. Long history of political activism

Claudia Sheinbaum’s activism has deep roots, beginning with her upbringing in a politically active family. Her parents were prominent figures in Mexico’s 1968 student movement, which culminated in the tragic Tlatelolco massacre, where hundreds of student demonstrators were killed by the government just before the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Inspired by her parent’s activism, Sheinbaum began her own efforts from a young age. At 15, she volunteered to assist mothers in search of their missing children, a cause linked to the country’s long history of gang-related violence and disappearances.