Climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum became president of Mexico in an inauguration ceremony on Tuesday afternoon, becoming the first woman and the first person of Jewish heritage to lead the country.

“It is time for transformation, it is time for women,” Sheinbaum said in her inaugural speech.

Sheinbaum won Mexico’s June presidential election with a landslide, securing 61% of the vote against runner-up Xóchitl Gálvez’s 28%. She is the hand-picked successor and mentee of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of the left-wing Morena party.

“For the first time in at least 503 years, women have arrived to lead the destiny of our beautiful nation. And I say ‘we arrived’ because I am not here alone: we all made it,” she added to thunderous applause and chants.

She will serve a six-year term. In that time, she will face challenges including violence stemming from organized crime: over 185,000 people were murdered in Mexico during López Obrador’s presidency. 

On the eve of her inauguration, Sheinbaum announced a slew of appointments in defense, infrastructural, economic, and cultural institutions, among others.

The new president will also face tense negotiations with the United States about U.S.-bound migrants crossing Mexico and security cooperation over drug trafficking in the context of the U.S. fentanyl epidemic.

Sheinbaum has been a vocal opponent of neoliberal economic policies, and is expected to continue many of López Obrador’s policies, including on pensions. Socially, she has described herself as a feminist and has advocated for legal abortion and LGBTQIA+ rights. 

Before going into politics, Sheinbaum worked as a climate scientist and academic, and holds a doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her work as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change went on to win a Nobel Prize. 

President Javier Milei did not attend Sheinbaum’s inauguration, nor did any of his cabinet members. The governor of Buenos Aires province, Axel Kicillof, was there alongside Brazilian President Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva, with whom he shared a meeting before the event.

“We observe with sadness and concern that while Brazil and Mexico share a perspective of regional integration, our country is going the opposite way,” said Kicillof on X.