Geoff: Mexico made history yesterday, electing its first female president and first president with jewish heritage. Claudia sheinbaum won in a landslide, with more than 58% of the vote. She will face mama challenges, including security, organized crime, immigration, and the continuing, at times tense, relationship with the U.S. Pamela Starr is a professor at the university of southern California, and a senior advisor at monarch global strategies, a business consultancy focused on Mexico and Latin America. Figure so much for being with us. Prof. Starr: It is a pleasure to be with you this evening. Geoff: How do you view the significant of this moment? Prof. Starr: I think it is enormously significant, especially for young women living in Mexico. It is stored in early important to see someone in position of importance of the same gender as you. At the same time, I don't suspect Claudia scheinbaum will be a feminist president, although she does self identif as a feminist. She is a traditional leftist. She focuses on lifting up all of those who are on the lower socioeconomic strata and not focusing on individual minorities in society, or in this case, women who are the largest my geordie -- largest majority in Mexico. I do think she will put more attention into violence against women, which Lopez obrador did not give much attention to, and potential to things like a and such. Geoff: As we said, she won with a sweeping mandate, more than 58% of the vote. Why was she so successful? What was that of her, her background, her approach that seemed to resonate with the Mexican voting public? Prof. Starr: It's what she stands for. She was chosen by Lopez obrador, hand-picked to be his successor. The campaign was run as a continuation of Lopez obrador's presidency. She says she will build the transformation of Mexico that Lopez obrador initiated. It was more of a vote for continuity in Mexican politics. Geoff: Let's return to the issue of violence. These elections in Mexico have been historic for another reason. They have been the most violent. In the run-up to the elections, more than 30 candidates were assassinated. Mexico has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. What is she aiming to do to address it? Prof. Starr: Her proposal is to try to adapt the strategies she implemented in Mexico City, which did sniffing at labor reduce crime and violence in the city. To a national situation. In Mexico City, she increased the wages and working conditions for the police. She used greater intelligence and police activities. And she carefully collaborated or guaranteed collaboration between law enforcement and the attorney general's office. She will to do something similar at the federal level. That said, she is not going to return to civilian policing with regard to federal criminal problems, like organized crime. She will rely on the militarized National Guard, although she will try to expand its size, increase working conditions and wages and increase their use of intelligence and collaboration with the attorney general's office. Geoff: What about immigration, a major issue in this election? Had is to plan to coordinate with the U.S. And has she articulated a plan to do what the migrants who make their way to Mexico toward the U.S.? Prof. Starr: She did not talk much about foreign policy. Indeed, there was a debate segment focused on foreign policy, and really none of the candidates spoke a great deal about foreign policy. In terms of migration, I suspect she will continue Lopez obrador 'S strategy of trying to cooperate with the united States, while protecting Mexican sovereignty. Knowing that cooperating with the United States generates the goodwill of the U.S. Administration, and gets Mexico more freedom of action on areas of greater importance to Mexico like domestic politics. Geoff: Pamela Starr, thank you for being with us. Prof. Starr: It was my pleasure.
