Claudia Sheinbaum, who won Mexico's presidential vote in June, is finally declared president-elect

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Claudia Sheinbaum, the woman who won Mexico’s June 2 presidential vote, has finally been formally declared Mexico’s President-elect, the first woman to hold the office in Mexico.

At a ceremony Thursday, the former Mexico City mayor was handed the legal ruling declaring her the country’s next president. The ruling had been delayed by appeals before the federal electoral tribunal.

Sheinbaum will be sworn in as president on Oct. 1, instead of the usual Dec. 1 swearing-in ceremony. The transition period was shortened after Mexican legislators judged that outgoing presidents stayed too long in office. Sheinbaum will serve a six-year term through 2030.

Sheinbaum has pledged to follow all the policies of her predecessor and political mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

She wasted no time in saying that López Obrador’s “hugs, not bullets” policy of not confronting the country’s powerful drug cartels was here to stay. The policy, which stresses hand-out programs to reduce the pool of cartel recruits, has proved ineffective at stemming the wave of drug violence.

“The war against drugs will not return,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum won with almost 60% of the vote, about double the number of her nearest competitor, Xóchitl Gálvez.

Gálvez had argued that López Obrador had used his influence and popularity to skew the race in favor of Sheinbaum. ___

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