First Lady Jill Biden traveled to Mexico this week to attend the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum as the country’s first female president and first of Jewish descent. 

President Joe Biden tapped his wife to lead the U.S. delegation to the event in Mexico City. The delegation also includes Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, Tucson, Arizona Mayor Regina Romero and Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy and Chris Coons. 

The first lady kicked off the trip at a reception hosted by Salazar in Mexico City before attending a dinner with Sheinbaum at the Museo de la Ciudad de México. Biden then attended the swearing in of Sheinbaum at the Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro on Tuesday morning and is set to take part in a lunch hosted by the country’s outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

Sheinbaum, a 62-year-old scientist-turned-politician receives a country with a number of immediate challenges, foremost among them stubbornly high levels of violence, a sluggish economy and the hurricane-battered resort city of Acapulco, which she plans to visit Wednesday.

First lady Jill Biden struck an optimistic tone for relations with the incoming Sheinbaum administration saying at the reception Monday that, “Under Dr. Sheinbaum’s presidency, I know we will continue to build a more prosperous, safe and democratic region — and take the steps in our U.S.-Mexico partnership.” 

Biden worked closely with Obrador on addressing the flow of migrants into the U.S.

Last month, the overhaul of Mexico’s judiciary drew questions from the U.S., including Salazar, who called it a “risk” to democracy and an economic threat, after which López Obrador said relations with the U.S. Embassy were put “on pause.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.