ALBAWABA - Claudia Sheinbaum becomes Mexico's first woman president, after achieving a landslide win in the latest presidential elections.
Sheinbaum won approximately 60 percent of the votes cast in the elections, with more than 30 percent ahead of her opposition rival Xochitl Galvez, the National Electoral Institute announced after a quick count.
After announcing her initial win, Sheinbaum addressed her supporters saying that she will not fail them, as she's facing some challenges in office.
In Mexico City's main center, thousands of supporters waved flags and celebrated the victory of the governing party candidate by singing and dancing to mariachi tunes.
Even though there had been occasional violence in across the country carried out by vicious drug gangs, voters had flocked to voting sites throughout the Latin American country.
Thousands of troops were sent in to ensure the safety of the voters during an especially violent election that resulted in the killings of over two dozen candidates.
After casting her vote, she disclosed that, in honor of her battle, she had voted for Ifigenia Martinez, a 93-year-old veteran socialist, rather than for herself. "Long live democracy!" Sheinbaum hailed.
Clemencia Hernandez, a 55-year-old cleaner in Mexico City, told AFP that "A female president will be a transformation for this country, and we hope that she does more for women,".
Authorities said that a local candidate was assassinated in a volatile western state hours before polling opened. This election season, at least 25 other political candidates have been killed, according to official statistics.
Two people lost their lives in the Mexican state of Puebla when unidentified gunmen broke into polling places to steal papers, an AFP source from the local government security agency said.
