MEXICO CITY (AP) Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in Tuesday as Mexicos first female president , riding the enthusiasm over her predecessors social programs but also facing challenges that include stubbornly high levels of violence.

After a smiling Sheinbaum took the oath of office on the floor of Congress, legislators shouted Presidenta! Presidenta! using the feminine form of president in Spanish for the first time in over 200 years of Mexicos history as an independent country.

The 62-year-old scientist-turned-politician receives a country with a number of immediate problems, also including a sluggish economy, unfinished building programs, rising debt and the hurricane-battered resort city of Acapulco .