“I’m incredibly proud of her,” said Marta Lamas, an anthropology professor and prominent Mexican feminist who has known Sheinbaum for years. We spoke last week in Mexico City, where she described Sheinbaum as a beacon of hope amid the challenges of leaders like Putin and Trump.
Lamas admitted she worried there might be a sexist backlash against Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president. However, six months into her presidency, no such backlash has appeared. Sheinbaum was elected with nearly 60 percent of the vote and currently maintains an approval rating exceeding 80 percent. Just last week, Bukele, who often refers to himself as “the world’s coolest dictator,” queried Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, about the most popular leader on the planet. To his surprise, the answer was “Sheinbaum.”
In the context of American identity politics, it’s perplexing to see how Sheinbaum emerged as a leader in the world’s 11th most populous nation. Her parents were Jewish immigrants who fled Europe and were actively involved in the leftist student movements during the 1960s. As a youngster, Sheinbaum was passionate about ballet, a discipline that’s reflected in her poised demeanor and the numerous social media videos of her folk dancing with the people she serves. For her Ph.D. in energy engineering, she conducted research at UC Berkeley and was part of the team that won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Despite being part of the cosmopolitan intelligentsia often criticized by populist movements, many in Mexico emphasize that her elite background is overshadowed by her longstanding association with López Obrador. She has been aligned with him since his days as mayor of Mexico City 25 years ago. His economic populism has garnered the steadfast support of many Mexican citizens facing hardships.
During his presidency, López Obrador more than doubled the minimum wage and adjusted it for inflation, ensuring workers kept pace with the cost of living. He introduced comprehensive social programs, including financial assistance for young people in job training and, crucially, universal cash transfers for the elderly. According to Mexico’s National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy, these initiatives helped five million Mexicans overcome poverty in the first four years of his administration, though extreme poverty saw an increase of nearly half a million.
