Mexico is preparing to welcome 16 foreign leaders and dozens of special guests for the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum, who will become the first female president in the country’s history on Tuesday, October 1st. Several heads of state and government have already arrived at the Felipe Angeles International Airport outside Mexico City to witness the ceremony, which has been at the center of controversy in recent days due to a diplomatic conflict with Spain following the exclusion of the King. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva led the delegations that arrived on Sunday, while Chilean President Gabriel Boric arrived early on Monday. Colombian Gustavo Petro, who delayed his flight following a military helicopter crash over the weekend, is also now in Mexico.
Lula is scheduled to have lunch with current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the afternoon, as well as a meeting with Sheinbaum in the evening, confirmed by the Brazilian government. A dinner with the heads of state and government attending the inauguration is scheduled for 8 p.m. The South American leader, received by the incoming Chief of the Presidential Office, Lázaro Cárdenas Bátel, will also participate in meetings with Mexican businessmen and a seminar to strengthen commercial ties between the two countries. Honduran President Xiomara Castro, Haitian Prime Minister Régine Abraham, and Sylvainie Burton of Dominica have also arrived in Mexico, representing the few women in the list of confirmed attendees announced by the transition team. Paraguayan President Santiago Peña arrived on Sunday night, and Presidents of Ghana and Libya from Africa, as well as the Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceño, also arrived on Monday.
The arrival of Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, US First Lady Jill Biden, Dominican leader Luis Abinader, and Bolivian President Luis Arce is scheduled for Monday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The leaders have been welcomed by members of the new Cabinet. The incoming Secretary of Health, David Kershenobich, welcomed Cuban President Díaz-Canel, the only leader to return after attending López Obrador’s inauguration six years ago. Claudia Curiel, appointed head of Culture, greeted Haitian Prime Minister Abraham, and Marath Bolaños, the returning Labor Secretary, met with Paraguayan President Peña. Leaders like Lula, Boric, and Petro have landed at the Felipe Angeles International Airport, one of the flagship projects of the current administration.
Petro, one of Sheinbaum and López Obrador’s main ideological allies, had planned to arrive on Sunday but postponed his flight due to an accident in which eight Colombian Armed Forces members died. “I want to support the families in their grief and personally follow the investigation to determine the causes of the incident,” he wrote on social media. There has also been anticipation about the possible last-minute arrival of guests, such as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has not confirmed his presence at the ceremony following the turbulent presidential elections in July. No active Asian or European leaders were included in the public list of confirmations. Spain announced last week that it would not have official representation “at any level” due to the “unacceptable” exclusion of the King. Sheinbaum stated that the Spanish government was invited but the King was left out for not responding to a request for apology for abuses during the Conquest and Colonial periods sent in 2019.
The transition team detailed that four vice presidents and 17 ministerial-level representatives will attend the ceremony, although their countries were not specified. Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice President of the European Commission, has already arrived in the country, along with the Vice President of the Chinese People’s Assembly, Tie Ning. The list includes 10 deputy ministers (undersecretaries), 10 heads of international organizations, and other special guests, as well as diplomatic representatives and ambassadors. The inauguration will begin at 9 a.m. at the Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro, home to the Chamber of Deputies. López Obrador will pass the presidential sash to the president of the Lower House, Ifigenia Martínez, who will then place it on Sheinbaum. Later, the new president’s first public event will take place in Mexico City’s Zócalo, the main public square in the country.
