Mexico City: Claudia Scheinbaum was congratulated around the world on Monday after being elected Mexico’s first female president, raising hopes for change in a country long plagued by gender-based violence.
Flag-waving supporters sang and danced to mariachi music late into the night after Sunday’s landslide victory.
The 61-year-old ruling party candidate addressed the cheering crowd and thanked “the millions of Mexican men and women who decided to vote for us on this historic day.”
Maria Fernanda Vela, 27, said it was “an inspiration for a woman to hold the highest office in a male chauvinist country”. This fills your heart with pride.
US President Joe Biden congratulated Sheinbaum on his “historic choice” and said he looked forward to working with him “in a spirit of cooperation and friendship”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, another key North American ally, also offered his congratulations and said he was ready to work closely with Scheinbaum to strengthen ties.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed his leftist counterpart as a “victory for democracy” and said he would strengthen economic ties between Latin America’s two largest economies.
Other leaders celebrating included Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the National Election Institute, Sheinbaum, a scientist, won about 59 percent of the vote with more than 90 percent of the vote.
That is 30 percent more than his main opposition rival, Xochitl Gálvez, and 50 percent more than the only person running, center Jorge Alvarez Maynez.
Gálvez, who admitted defeat after preliminary results were announced, said on Monday that the opposition faced “unrivaled competition against all state apparatuses to support candidates”.
He expressed confidence in the official results, but said he would contest the results, saying “it doesn’t end here.”
Mexican women rejoiced in breaking the highest political glass ceiling in a country where around 10 women are killed every day.
“Our society is violent, sexist, misogynistic, and as president, Dr. Scheinbaum can help change not only the law but also society,” said Lol-Kin Castaneda, 48, who waited late to hear the winner’s speech.
Almost 100 million people are registered to vote in the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country with 129 million people.
Sheinbaum owes much of his popularity to outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist and conservative ally who has an approval rating of more than 60 percent but is only allowed to serve one term.
Lopez Obrador, who will step down as president in October, hailed his defense victory as a “historic event.”
In a country linked to politics, crime and corruption, drug cartels have worked hard to ensure the victory of their preferred candidates.
More than 20 local politicians have been killed in a violent election season.
The bloodshed continued late Sunday after a local mayoral candidate was killed and elections concluded in the south, authorities said.
Two people were killed when unidentified assailants stormed a polling station in the central Mexican state of Puebla on Sunday, local authorities said.
Voting was halted in two municipalities in the southern state of Chiapas due to violence.
More than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing since the government sent troops to fight the drug trade in 2006.
Sheinbaum also needs to manage good relations with the neighboring United States, especially concerned about drug trafficking and cross-border migration.
Financial markets are excited about the magnitude of Scheinbaum’s victory and the potential of the ruling party in Congress to facilitate major reforms.
Mexican shares closed up almost six percent as the peso fell sharply against the dollar, reversing some of its gains in recent years that earned it the nickname “super peso”.
Gabriela Siller, head of economic analysis at financial group BASE, said she was concerned that the new administration would change the constitution and undermine the central bank’s independence.
World leaders laud Sheinbaum’s ‘historic’ Mexico election win
