Challenge for Mexico's first female president

Mexico City [Mexico], June 5: Reuters yesterday (June 4) cited data from the Mexican election agency showing that presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum of the Movement for National Regeneration (MORENA) party was ahead of opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez with a difference of 60 votes. % vs. 28%. US President Joe Biden and many international leaders congratulated Ms. Sheinbaum. "For the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first female president of Mexico," Ms. Sheinbaum announced.
Security instability
The great challenge before Ms. Sheinbaum is to resolve the persistent insecurity in Mexico.
Outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won a resounding victory in the 2018 election with an action program to demilitarize the war against drug gangs, declaring peace to be restored with "the hugs, instead of guns and bullets". However, during his tenure, although the murder rate trended downward, the number of people killed (more than 185,000) reached the highest level of any other administration in the country's modern history.
This year's election was also the most violent in modern Mexican history, with 38 candidates running for different positions murdered. Many analysts believe that organized crime groups have expanded their areas and increased their influence over the past six years.
Ms. Sheinbaum vowed to continue the policies of Mr. Lopez Obrador, who has supported her since she first entered politics in 2000. In addition, she also pledged to create a new investigation program. Criminal law aims to resolve crimes that have not been prosecuted, according to some studies, more than 98% of crimes.
"The biggest challenge the country faces comes from organized crime, the expansion of gangs," Latin America research expert Will Freeman at the Council on Foreign Relations (USA) told CNN. . Ms. Sheinbaum's team made a splash when it improved security in Mexico City, with the capital's murder rate dropping by 50%. However, Mr. Freeman said that whether Ms. Sheinbaum can repeat that on a national scale or not is still a question mark.
Economics and foreign affairs
Mexico's president-elect will also take over an economy with low growth and a high budget deficit, expected to reach nearly 6% of GDP by the end of 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Over the past six years, Mr. Lopez Obrador has doubled the minimum wage, reduced the poverty rate, strengthened the peso and brought unemployment to low levels. Speaking to supporters on June 3, Ms. Sheinbaum promised to expand welfare programs under her predecessor but pledged to act fiscally responsible and respect the autonomy of the central bank, according to Reuters.
On the other hand, another big challenge for the new president is handling the sensitive relationship with neighboring America, especially the issue of migrants heading to the US through Mexico as well as security cooperation against cartels. drug trafficking group.
The presidential election will take place in the US in November and Mexican officials predict that negotiations with the neighboring country will become more difficult if Donald Trump is elected. The former president once announced that he would impose a 100% tax on Chinese cars made in Mexico and said he would mobilize a special force to fight gangs at the border. In her victory announcement, Ms. Sheinbaum said she would cultivate a "friendly relationship" with the United States but would also "always protect Mexicans living in the United States."
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper