Inauguration of Mexico's first woman president inspires North Texans

Members of the Mexican community in the Metroplex said Claudia Sheinbaum's historic ascendance to the presidency was an example for women in both countries to aspire to.

The first woman to ever become President of Mexico took her oath of office on Tuesday.

62-year-old Claudia Sheinbaum was inaugurated during a ceremony in Mexico City. The historic day is inspiring many in the Mexican community in North Texas.

In Mexico City on Tuesday, there were cheers in the street and inside Mexico’s Congress, where Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as the country’s president.

“Very excited,” said Juanita Arevalo, president of Pleasant Grove Unidos. “And some of them got very emotional because this is a proud moment for Mexico.”

Sheinbaum is Mexico’s first woman president in its more than 200-year history.

Watching the inauguration from afar, members of the Mexican community in North Texas said the inauguration was a milestone for women in their mother country.

“Where women have not been able to speak up,” said Ana Marcela Rodriguez, founder of Therapy Works Counseling. “They have not been able to follow their dreams, they have not been able to do things on their own.”

Some political experts told NBC 5 they believed Sheinbaum’s new administration could be more willing to work with the United States on key issues like immigration and trade.  

“They’ll tend to focus more on what’s occurring in Mexico, and how they can use something that the United States wants for their advantage within the country,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University.

Politics aside, some North Texans hoped other impacts of Tuesday’s inauguration would be felt here.

“For us here in the United States as well, she’s a great role model,” said Arevalo. “Especially for those little girls that are going to be looking up to her.”

Some in the Mexican community in the Metroplex said seeing Sheinbaum lead the nation was an invitation for other women to one day do the same.

“To see for example my daughter, that she can see someone like her being president, it’s such a wonderful thing,” said Rodriguez.