MEXICO CITY — Hours after declaring victory, Mexico’s newly elected president, the first woman to win the job, faced a market meltdown Monday and a tough path toward reconciling a country deeply divided by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The strong peso — which has gained steadily against the dollar on the back of increased remittances in the last year — was something López Obrador counted as his own achievement. But analysts have suggested for some time the Mexican currency is over-valued. That worries foreign investors. López Obrador has already cracked down on private and foreign investment in the energy sector, and now wants to ban new industrial sites in any area of Mexico suffering water stress — essentially the whole, economically vibrant north of the country.“The climate of political polarization has gotten worse during the current administration,” Moody’s Analytics Director Alfredo Coutiño wrote in a report Monday.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement congratulating Sheinbaum on her “historic” election, and saying, “I look forward to working closely with President-elect Sheinbaum in the spirit of partnership and friendship that reflects the enduring bonds between our two countries.” He also suggested he might give Sheinbaum some latitude to change his proposals for constitutional reforms — though without promising anything.
Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor, has vowed to continue López Obrador's policies, and in her victory speech Monday gave little sign of how she will make her own mark on the presidency. Her cool temper offers a sharp contrast in style with López Obrador's folksy populism, and a break with Mexico’s male-dominated political culture.