Infographic: Key moments from Peña Nieto’s First 100 Days (In Spanish)

Reforma, 3/10/2013

Some of the key moments from Peña Nieto’s first 100 days in office have included: the Victims Law, the arrest of Elba Esther Gordillo, Florence Cassez’s release, the announcement of a new security strategy, among others.

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Weekly News Summary: February 15

The Mexico Institute’s “Weekly News Summary,” released every Friday afternoon, summarizes the week’s most prominent Mexico headlines published in the English-language press, as well as the most engaging opinion pieces by Mexican columnists.

What the English-language press had to say…

This week, the Peña Nieto administration unveiled its new strategy to combat organized crime, promising the creation of a 10,000-strong gendarmerie by year’s end, as well as $9.2 billion for social programs aimed at the country’s most violent towns and neighborhoods.  Mexico’s booming auto industry surpassed tourism and oil exports to become the nation’s main source of foreign exchange. The government’s efforts to transform the Mexican narrative of violence into one of prosperity and social development, however, continued to suffer setbacks following the rape of six Spanish tourists in Acapulco last week. Auto defensa vigilante groups in the state of Guerrero continued to hold over forty people accused of several crimes hostage. North of the border, talk of comprehensive immigration reform continued, with critics warning against conditioning reform efforts on the poorly defined notion of securing the border, which Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano added, has “never been stronger.”

New Resources from the Mexico Institute

The Mexico Institute is pleased to announce a selection of new resources:

• Mexico Institute Director Duncan Wood provides commentary on the Pacto.
• NAFTA 20 Years on: Time for a Change, analysis by Christopher Wilson.
• Mexico Institute releases English translation graphic of new Mexican cabinet.
• Mexico Institute releases 4 part video series on Latino electorate.
• New addition to The Expert Take: Eric L. Olson provides commentary on President Peña Nieto’s Security Strategy

Issue Brief: Mexico’s Fight Against Organized Crime

Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates on behalf of the Enrique Peña Nieto Transition, 11/21/2012

Enrique Peña Nieto

On December 1, 2012 Enrique Peña Nieto will be sworn-in as Mexico’s next president. This is the third in a series of issue briefs covering some of his policy priorities. Each brief will outline the president-elect’s vision for Mexico and proposed policies.

MEXICO WILL CONTINUE ITS FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME 

Mexico’s President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto supports the decision made by President Felipe Calderón to confront the threat of organized crime head-on. As Peña Nieto has stated “the law is not negotiable, it is to be applied.” The president-elect believes that enforcing the law is not an option, but rather an obligation of the Mexican State and its authorities.

AMLO would evaluate security every 15 days in Nuevo León [In Spanish]

El Universal, 4/23/2012

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), candidate of Movimiento Progresista (a coalition between the PRD, the PT and Movimiento Ciudadano), made a commitment that, if he were to win the presidential election, he would visit the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León every 15 days in order to carry out an evaluation of the country’s state of security.

Given that Nuevo León is currently one of the states with the largest presence of organized crime groups, AMLO explained that he would meet with his security cabinet there.

AMLO also used his public appearance in front of the Palacio de Gobierno of Nuevo León to declare that his political campaign in this state is crucial as he seeks to establish a pact between workers and business leaders. He also stressed the importance of achieving a “permanent alliance” between the three sectors of Mexico’s economy: the public, the private, and the social one. “We need to further these three engines of the economy to achieve the rebirth of the country,” AMLO said.

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Presidential candidates present their public security strategies [In Spanish]

El Universal, 4/3/2012

The four presidential candidates presented their proposed security strategies at the forum “Agenda México 12.18 Seguridad y Justicia,” led by Alejandro Martí who is founder of the civil society organization Mexico SOS. Each of the candidates presented a series of formulas that they would put forward in order to reduce violence, improve the state of security and justice, as well as combatting impunity in Mexico. Martí gave each candidate a security agenda approved by 35 organizations.