Claudia Sheinbaum to Become Mexico's Next President

Claudia Sheinbaum made history on June 2, 2024, by becoming the first woman elected as President of Mexico. Sheinbaum, the candidate for the ruling party MORENA, triumphed over her opponents Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Maynez. This landmark victory positions her to continue the legacy of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, while also bringing a more open stance toward private investment. Investors are optimistic that under Sheinbaum's leadership, there will be greater opportunities for private sector involvement in Mexico's economic landscape.  

Early election results released by INE indicate that Sheinbaum secured between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote. Gálvez garnered between 26.6% and 28.6%, while Máynez received the remaining 9.9% to 10.8%. With renewed certainty regarding the future of Mexico's political landscape, here is a recap of Sheinbaum’s main proposals in different areas.

Security 

Sheinbaum seeks to consolidate a reduction in crime rates by 2030. To achieve that goal, the candidate aims to strengthen the National Guard by putting it under the control of the Ministry of Defense (SEDENA). Additionally, she proposes bolstering the Ministry of Public Security and Civil Protection (SSPC), particularly in its areas of intelligence and investigation. Among her main proposals in this regard are:

• Enhancing coordination with the National Guard and the Attorney General's Office (FGR) to improve investigation processes and reduce impunity

• Maintaining and strengthening mechanisms for professionalizing investigations and documenting investigative actions to legally obtain information

• Renewing and updating Plataforma México to provide telecommunications and data services to public security agencies and enhance its capacity for decision-making

• Implementing a comprehensive plan for strengthening the prison system to improve infrastructure and technological capabilities

• Considering extortion as a serious crime, standardizing penalties and investigation techniques, and enhancing coordination between government levels to combat it

• Strengthening coordination and interoperability between financial intelligence units, FGR, (SAT), and SSPC to identify and combat organized crime finances 

• Maintaining and enhancing existing social programs like "Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro" to discourage youth recruitment by organized crime, while elevating the "Jóvenes Unen al Barrio" and "Barrio Adentro" initiatives, implemented during her tenure as Mayor of Mexico City, to constitutional status

During the third presidential debate, Sheinbaum expressed support for Mandatory Pretrial Detention, arguing that if the Supreme Court were to approve its elimination, it would increase insecurity. “SCJN should commit to the issue of security. Thirty-one governors and the Mexico City Mayor wrote to prevent mandatory pretrial detention from being classified as the SCJN ministers did because, then, 60,000 criminals would be released from prison," she said at the debate. 

Economy and Employment 

Sheinbaum aims to allocate public resources toward addressing social issues, including poverty reduction and tackling inequality, while also advocating for the protection of workers' rights, as well as harnessing nearshoring. Among her main proposals are: 

• A significant reduction in public debt from 3.7% to 2.5% of GDP by 2029 to free up resources for priority objectives

• Increasing the minimum wage annually by 11% in the coming years. Sheinbaum aims to increase the minimum wage to at least 2.5 times the Market Basket. She also proposed to fix increases in minimum wage in line with inflation.

• Continuing the recent reform to the Pension Fund for Well-Being, redirecting unclaimed retirement savings from workers aged 70 and above

• Strengthening both the role of development banks and private banks to facilitate credit access for small businesses to harness nearshoring

• The creation of 12 additional “Poles of Well-Being” and 100 industrial parks focusing on strategic sectors like semiconductors, energy, tourism, infrastructure and electromobility, electronics, logistics, agribusiness, information technologies, medical devices, and the pharmaceutical industry

• Providing social security for agricultural workers and delivery app workers

• The construction of 2 million houses, to create over 2 million jobs

Mobility, Environment, and Infrastructure 

Sheinbaum’s infrastructure proposals are focused on the efficient use of resources and consolidating projects started during the López Obrador administration. These are her proposals:

• Strengthening CONAGUA and establishing the human right to water as a legal priority and water as a strategic resource for the country's social and economic development

• Ensuring sustainable use of water resources, preventing sustained overexploitation of any water source 

• Modernizing agricultural irrigation and treatment of water used for industry and irrigation

• Achieving water balance in each watershed over the next 50 years and regulating water concessions in accordance with established law

• Consolidating infrastructure projects like the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, promoting railway transportation for passengers and freight, expanding airport infrastructure, and consolidating the state-owned company Mexicana de Aviación

• Construction, ampliation and refurbishment of highways, ports, airports, and railways to  harness nearshoring

• Modernizing six refineries and hydroelectric plants, along with promoting the use of electric vehicles in major cities across Mexico

Extractive Industries and Energy 

In energy Matters, despite her ties to López Obrador, Sheinbaum appears much more open to renewable energy projects and to private participation in these ventures. Still, she maintains the goal of the previous government to work toward fuel self-sufficiency. These are her commitments: 

• Not to increase energy, gas, and gasoline prices, ensuring all increases respond to inflation

• Increasing CFE's electricity generation to 54%, mainly through renewable projects like solar and wind, while allowing reasonable private sector participation within legal bounds to avoid weakening CFE or risking energy security

• Promoting renewable energies and energy efficiency, including the construction of photovoltaic, wind, hydro, geothermal, and green hydrogen plants

• Encouraging the installation of solar panels and heaters on residential and commercial rooftops

• Ensuring fuel self-sufficiency by maintaining full operation and maintenance of existing refineries, including the new Olmeca refinery in Dos Bocas, which is estimated to refine 340Mb/d of crude oil and produce approximately 190Mb/d of fuel

• Investing over US$13.6 billion in renewable energy and gas plants, with 3,850km of electrical transmission lines, to strengthen PEMEX and advance Mexico's clean energy agenda, aiming to add 13.7GW of electricity to the grid by 2030

• Advancing the Plan Sonora, aiming to establish Sonora as a global leader in lithium and solar energy utilization facilitating lithium exploitation, battery manufacturing, and attracting electric vehicle companies

Autonomous Entities and Governance

In this area, Sheinbaum seeks for continuation of the fourth transformation planned reforms and the republican austerity approach that defined López Obrador’s administration.

• Direct popular election of judges, magistrates, and ministers of the Judicial Branch

• Merging, integrating, or extinguishing 17 decentralized bodies, transferring their functions to federal ministries, including General Coordination of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, INAI, COFECE, and CONEVAL

• Establishing an intersecretarial commission comprising authorities from all three levels of government to expedite complex procedures for businesses, aiming to halve the time required for their establishment

Education, Health, and Migration 

Sheinbaum’s proposals show the desire to continue with the IMSS-Bienestar plan implemented by López Obrador, along with plans for boosting public education.

• Implementing the “Educational, Humanistic, and Scientific Republic" project, advocating for free education at all levels

• Introducing universal scholarships for students in basic education, fair wages for teachers, strengthening upper secondary and higher education, and expanding spaces for cultural and scientific development

• Establishing a national cross-administration plan, overseen by the Ministry of Health, to coordinate public health institutions nationwide, integrating the private sector and enhancing IMSS-Bienestar infrastructure and staffing to align with IMSS and ISSSTE standards

• New protocols and additional shifts in healthcare facilities, along with creating clinics in 154 underserved municipalities, prioritizing highly marginalized areas

• Continuing López Obrador’s approach of free medicines and access to health services

• Collaborating with the United States and migrant-sending countries to create jobs, addressing the root causes of migration