Maya Averbuch and Alex Vasquez, Bloomberg News
MEXICO CITY
EnergiesNet.com 10 02 2024
“I am a mother, grandmother, scientist and a woman of faith, and as of today, by the will of the people of Mexico, the constitutional president of the United Mexican States,” Sheinbaum said in her inaugural address. “I will not let you down. I call on you to continue making history.”
Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and member of Lopez Obrador’s Morena party, received the most votes in Mexican presidential history on her way to a dominant win in June’s election.
Along with the broad support she inherited in part from the popular Lopez Obrador, she will govern with large majorities in Mexico’s congress after Morena’s coalition won two-thirds control of the lower house and fell just shy of that mark in the Senate.
In a speech without major surprises, she reiterated the main proposals she presented on the campaign trail, pledging to improve upon Lopez Obrador’s welfare programs with scholarships for students of all levels, boost the health system and give cash transfers to women who don’t yet qualify for pensions.
“The speech gave reason to think there will be continuity with the policies of the previous administration,” said Gustavo Flores-Macias, a professor of government and public policy at Cornell University.
Sheinbaum also promised that private foreign and domestic investments in Mexico will be safe during her government, stressing that it was not just the poor who benefited under Lopez Obrador, but also the business sector. She vowed to continue the fiscal austerity that typified her predecessor’s administration before he sharply increased spending during his final year in office.
Supporters greeted Sheinbaum and AMLO, as the outgoing president is known, with hugs and calls for photos as they arrived to congress in modest cars that they have used to symbolize their distance from corruption and luxuries of previous governments.
Congressional Power
Sheinbaum’s allies in congress have already begun to use their majorities to approve sweeping constitutional changes, including a controversial overhaul of the Mexican judiciary that will require the election of all federal judges and members of the Supreme Court.
The plan has sparked concerns that it will erode checks on the ruling party’s power and pose risks to Mexico’s democracy. Sheinbaum pushed back on those claims, saying that it is meant only to provide more autonomy to the judiciary and guarantee the rule of law.
Still, hundreds of judicial reform workers marched down Mexico City’s Reforma Avenue to protest the overhaul as Sheinbaum spoke, while other protesters held signs at the congress.
The judicial reform is the largest of the many challenges AMLO left behind for his successor. It contributed to a sharp weakening of the Mexican peso in the wake of the election, while also generating strikes and criticism from the US — the country’s largest trading partner. Morena lawmakers are now pushing to pass other reforms AMLO sought, including a bill to prioritize state-owned energy companies over private firms.
She will also inherit an economic slowdown that began in the final months of 2023. In August, the central bank cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.5% from 2.4% previously, with a further slowdown to 1.2% estimated for 2025. And AMLO is leaving her with Mexico’s largest fiscal deficit in nearly 40 years, along with sticky inflation that remains above the central bank’s target.
Sheinbaum has pledged to reduce the deficit to less than 3.5% of gross domestic product, an objective some analysts consider too ambitious given that it currently sits at 5.9%.
In the speech, Sheinbaum promised to carry out an energy transition to reduce greenhouse emissions, while capping oil production at state-owned driller Pemex at 1.8 million barrels per day.
Sheinbaum also pledged to maintain positive working relations with the US and Canada, and said that economic cooperation will strengthen the three nations.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from 105 countries, according to the government, including 16 presidents. Among them were Lopez Obrador’s leftist allies such as Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, Chile’s Gabriel Boric and Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel. Notably absent was Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose victory in the July election has been widely questioned.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden wished Sheinbaum a successful presidency and said that First Lady Jill Biden attended the swearing-in ceremony as a symbol of respect and friendship between the two nations. US Representative Nanette Barragan, a California Democrat who visited Mexico City as part of a delegation led by Biden, celebrated the historic triumph of the first woman president in North America.
“There’s a lot of opportunities for us to continue to work together,” she said. “So I’m looking forward to an ongoing, growing partnership with the US-Mexico relationship, and to have a woman lead it is really a historic, amazing opportunity to see.”
The conciliatory nature of the speech, especially with regards to foreign relations and an interest in renewables, may undercut some of the political risk factors that spooked markets in recent weeks, said Rodrigo Villegas, CEO of political risk consultancy Suass Group in Mexico City.
“While staying true to some of the core principles of AMLO’s rhetoric, she did show signs of what a Sheinbaum administration would look like,” Villegas said. “She remained in a very steady and safe spot while addressing international and foreign affairs, in contrast to her predecessor. She did not make any harsh criticisms or hostile statements toward any country.”
Members of the opposition criticized Sheinbaum for her lack of acknowledgment of their views. Marko Cortes, leader of the main opposition PAN party, told local press that the speech didn’t show any conciliatory gesture towards opposing parties.
At the end of her speech, Sheinbaum celebrated that for the first time a woman will hold Mexico’s top job, calling it a victory for those who had “dreamed of the possibility that one day it would not matter if we were born as women or men, and we could realize our dreams and desires without our gender being able to determine our destiny.”
Zocalo Addres
In the afternoon, Sheinbaum gave a second speech in the Zocalo square in downtown Mexico City, with 100 government proposals — some very specific, such as highways for certain regions — that ranged across topics, from advancing the energy transition to developing technological innovation. She proposed to remodel Mexico City’s Benito Juarez airport and expand educational programs for kids.
The president said she aims for renewable energies to make 45% of Mexico’s power generation by 2030, while strengthening Pemex and utility CFE as public companies, seeking to keep oil output for domestic use. She also presented new projects, like the production of a Mexican electric vehicle and low-cost drones, and the launch of a satellite, while saying she welcomes nearshoring investments.
Her welfare proposals included a pledge to start an at-home healthcare program for older Mexicans, and she added the government will start paying for certain eye and knee surgeries.
She also said she will send a package of reforms to congress to improve women’s rights, seeking wage parity and a decrease in violence, with a special focus on femicides. Next week, she vowed to present a more complete security plan.
The president participated in a ceremony with women representing Mexico’s indigenous communities who gave her a spiritual cleansing and handed her a baton, a symbol of the people’s recognition. “I pledge to you not to lie, not to steal, and never to betray the people of Mexico, I pledge to continue making history,” Sheinbaum said at the end of her speech.
Here’s other key promises from her second speech:
- Mexico to seek to strengthen Pemex and CFE as public companies, Sheinbaum said
- Country will focus on oil production for domestic use, not export
- Constitution to cap public servant salaries
- Mexico to extract lithium with its own technology
- Government to start at-home healthcare for elderly, give free medicine starting mid-2025, pay for some eye and knee surgeries
- Mexico to seek wage parity between men and women, send gender-focused reforms to Congress Oct. 3
- Administration will create national seed company to aid farmers
- Mexico seeks agreement with US on expanding border crossings
- Government to strengthen state-run airline Mexicana de Aviacion and remodel Mexico City’s Benito Juarez airport
- Country to welcome nearshoring-related investment and form regional council with business leaders
- Mexico to address air pollution in 3 largest cities, including Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey
- Government to reorder water concessions and rights starting in October
- Mexico to announce national security strategy next week
- Mexico first election of judges to take place June 2025, as part of reform
- School day to be extended to include physical education and arts classes
- President promised to fix 4,000 km of federal highways with potholes
- —With assistance from Eric Martin.
Bloomberg.com 10 01 2024
