(Bloomberg) — Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president Tuesday, promising to safeguard foreign investment as she builds on the legacy of a popular predecessor who wasn’t always friendly to business interests. Sheinbaum took over for outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and pledged to continue her partymate and political mentor’s efforts to improve the lives of Mexico’s poorest people as she delivered her inaugural address in congress. “I am a mother, grandmother, scientist and a woman of faith, and as of today, by the will of the people of Mexico, the constitutional president of the United Mexican States,” Sheinbaum said.
“I will not let you down. I call on you to continue making history.” Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and member of Lopez Obrador’s Morena party, won the most votes in Mexican presidential history on her way to a dominant win in June’s election.
Along with the broad support she inherited in part from the popular Lopez Obrador, she will govern with large majorities in Mexico’s congress after Morena’s coalition won two-thirds control of the lower house and fell just shy of that mark in the Senate. In the speech, she reiterated the main proposals she presented on the campaign trail, pledging to improve upon Lopez Obrador’s welfare programs with scholarships for students of all levels, boost the health system and give cash transfers to women who don’t yet qualify for pensions. Sheinbaum also pro.