The first woman elected mayor of Mexico City was sworn in Wednesday for a six-year term leading one of the world’s largest cities, in a country with a deep tradition of machismo.
Claudia Sheinbaum, a 56-year-old scientist and environmentalist, rode to victory in the July 1 elections on the same anti-establishment wave that brought her left-wing ally and former mentor to power, Mexico’s new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
She echoed Lopez Obrador’s fervent anti-corruption message in her inaugural address before the city legislature.“We are beginning a new era of honesty and eradicating the privileges long enjoyed by top officials,” she said.
She vowed to end “the privatization of public spaces” and excessive fines and taxes in the sprawling capital of more than eight million inhabitants, whose greater urban area is home to some 20 million people.