Claudia Sheinbaum is sworn in as Mexico’s first female president

Claudia Sheinbaum is Mexico’s first female president (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario)

Claudia Sheinbaum took the oath of office on Tuesday as Mexico’s first female president in more than 200 years of independence, promising to protect an expanded social safety net and other popular policies put in place by her predecessor, but facing pressing problems.

The 62-year-old, scientist-turned-politician takes care of a country with a number of immediate challenges, foremost among them stubbornly high levels of violence, a sluggish economy and the hurricane-battered resort city of Acapulco, which she plans to visit on Wednesday.