Mexico’s first female president, Sheinbaum, seeks accord with Trump.
From the Spanish section of the France 24 website, Claudia Sheinbaum, the first female head of government of Mexico, celebrated her first year in office in a large ceremony in the Zócalo square of Mexico City (the country’s main public square) attended by about 100,000 people. At the ceremony, she highlighted the political, economic, and social progress of her government, but acknowledged that corruption, insecurity, and pressure from the United States remain the biggest obstacles facing her.
Sheinbaum highlighted the achievements of her government over the past year, giving a detailed report on her programs, which she said have benefited some 21 million people, including retirees, students, children, and farmers, and more than two million families.
In her speech, she said: “This is the most ambitious social plan in the history of Mexico; a plan based on the trust of our people and considering social rights as the basis of prosperity.”
The leftist president also confidently declared that he would reach “a good agreement with the United States,” a country that accounts for more than 80 percent of Mexico’s exports, and that is due to review a trade agreement with the United States and Canada next year.
Trade with the United States is vital to Mexico’s economy and is key to financing Sheinbaum’s ambitious social program.
This year (2025), social investment is estimated at $54.3 billion, equivalent to about 12 percent of the national budget; a similar figure is forecast for 2026.
According to estimates from the private sector and the Mexican Central Bank, Latin America’s second-largest economy (after Brazil) will grow by just 0.5 percent in 2025 and by 1.4 percent in 2026.
Jeronimo Ugarte, an economist at brokerage firm Valmex, believes that the current performance of the Mexican economy can be assessed, among other factors, by “more contractionary financial accounts and a vulnerable external sector.”