Claudia Sheinbaum’s victory speech: What did Mexico’s new president say about her plans?

Claudia Sheinbaum is set to be the first female President in Mexico’s history. Sheinbaum swept the election on June 2, receiving between 58.3% and 60.7% of the votes, according to INE’s quick count; almost 30 percentage points more than her main competitor, Xóchitl Gálvez, candidate of the PAN-PRI-PRD coalition.

A few minutes after Guadalupe Taddei, INE’s president councillor, released the quick count estimates, Sheinbaum appeared before her supporters and the media at her headquarters, located in a hotel in downtown Mexico City, where she presented her government ideology and thanked the almost 35 million people who placed their trust in her to lead the country.

She spoke about a democratic administration, one respectful of individual liberties, focused on building a welfare state and maintaining the social and security policies that characterised the six-year term of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

What did Mexico’s new president say in her victory speech?

“I want to thank millions of Mexicans who decided to vote for us on this historic day to move forward with the Fourth Transformation of the public life of our beautiful country. It is the recognition of the people of Mexico to our national project”, she began her speech, before mentioning the history of women’s participation in national politics, which has reached its peak with her election as President:

“I am not alone, we are all here, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, our ancestors, our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters. I congratulate all Mexicans who today, with their participation, demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country, with peaceful and very participatory elections.”

Sheinbaum promised to govern for everyone, including her detractors: “We want a plural, diverse and democratic Mexico. We know that dissent is part of democracy and, although the majority of the people supported our project, our duty is to look after each and every Mexican, without distinction. So, although many Mexicans do not fully agree, we will have to walk in peace and harmony to continue building a fair and more prosperous Mexico”.

‘We will continue to fight against any form of discrimination’

The former head of the Tlalpan delegation between 2015 and 2018 assured that her administration will draw a parallelism with the theoretical precepts of López Obrador: “We will govern without (outside) influence, corruption or impunity. There will be no real increases in fuel or electricity. We will maintain the necessary division between economic and political power. We will always defend and work for the supreme interest of the Mexican people. We will guarantee the freedoms of expression, press, assembly and mobilisation. We are democrats and by conviction we would never make an authoritarian or repressive government”.

Regarding her social approach, the future president emphasised that she will respect political, social, cultural and religious diversity, as well as gender and sexual freedoms. “We will continue to fight against any form of discrimination,” she affirmed. Regarding her relationship with private initiative, she said she “will respect entrepreneurial freedom and will honestly promote and facilitate private investment, domestic and foreign, that fosters social welfare and regional development while guaranteeing respect for the environment.”

She also promised to continue with the implementation of the social programs initiated by López Obrador’s administration and guaranteed universal access to education, health, housing, culture, one of the main assets of her platform: “We are going to continue building an authentic welfare state”. She also mentioned strategic projects, along the lines of her predecessor, such as highways, airports and trains, and mentioned that she will fight to maintain the country’s energy sovereignty, in line with the discourse of the six-year term that is coming to an end.

“Friendship, mutual respect and equality” with the United States

Regarding her foreign policy plans, she will adhere to the constitutional principles of non-intervention, international cooperation for development, self-determination of peoples and peace building. She stated that she will maintain a relationship of “friendship, mutual respect and equality” with the United States, and that she will always defend Mexicans on the other side of the border.

Sheinbaum omitted whether her security strategy will include collaboration with the American Union, but stressed that she will continue with the fundamentals of the project initiated by López Obrador, based on “attention to the causes”: “We will take Mexico on the path of peace and security. We will move forward with the consolidation of the National Guard, intelligence and investigation for public security, and the coordination of the institutions of the different branches and levels of government. In other words, our security and justice policy will focus on the causes and zero impunity”.

At the end of her message, Sheinbaum revealed that she had already received congratulations from several heads of state and from President López Obrador himself, whom she defined as “an exceptional man, unique, who has transformed the history of our country for the better”. The former mayoress of Mexico City, a historic woman in a country marked by machismo, stated that her mission is to build a fairer, democratic, free and sovereign nation. “There is no doubt that we will live up to our history and to the generous and great people of Mexico”, she finally said, before three shouts of ‘Viva Mexico’.