Sheinbaum to take office as Mexicos first woman president [Video]

Almost four months after her landslide election victory, Claudia Sheinbaum will be sworn in Tuesday as Mexican president, taking over as the Latin American nation’s first woman leader at a time when it is wracked by criminal violence.

The 62-year-old former Mexico City mayor and ruling party heavyweight will take office in the presence of foreign dignitaries including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US First Lady Jill Biden.

“It’s time for women and transformation,” Sheinbaum has said on several occasions, in a nation with a history of gender-based discrimination and violence, with around 10 women or girls murdered every day.

But having a woman president is no guarantee of a greater focus on women’s rights, said Maria Fernanda Bozmoski, deputy director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at US-based think tank the Atlantic Council.

“When we think of other women leaders in the region, that hasn’t …