Mexico Leader Under New Scrutiny

1/20/2015 The Wall Street Journal

Bernardo Montoya/Reuters

A few weeks after taking office as governor of the State of Mexico in late 2005, President Enrique Peña Nieto purchased a property in an exclusive golf club from a businessman who helped transform this sleepy town into a popular resort known for its Roman-style thermal baths.

Roberto San Román Widerkehr, the seller of the weekend residence and developer of an exclusive golf club here, also founded a local construction firm which went on to win more than $100 million in public-works contracts during Mr. Peña Nieto’s time as governor from 2005 to 2011, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal…

But the transaction is another example of the extensive personal links between politicians and businessmen from Mr. Peña Nieto’s home state that led to accusations by politicians and others of influence peddling that are roiling his administration. The public outcry risks distracting the government from implementing economic overhauls and damaging his party’s support before midterm elections in June.

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In Mexico, History is Repeating Itself

By Tim Padgett, 1/15/2015

Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

When Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visited President Obama on Jan. 6, hundreds of Mexican Americans demonstrated outside the White House. Hundreds more picketed at Mexican consulates across the U.S. It was an unusual display of solidarity with Mexicans south of the border, who have taken to the streets almost daily since September—when 43 college students were massacred by narco-gangsters—to denounce corruption and violence in their country.

Peña Nieto’s approval rating, which hovered above 60 percent two years ago, has plummeted into the 30s as marchers call for his resignation. That’s a dramatic fall considering how ardently U.S. and international boosters lionized him when he took office in December 2012. Then, it seemed like every financial gazette on the planet was declaring Peña Nieto’s Mexico “the Aztec Tiger.” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said it was poised to become a “more dominant economic power in the 21st century” than China.

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Obama Pledges Mexico’s Pena Nieto Drugs Support

1/6/2015 BBC News

President Barack Obama has promised the US will stand alongside Mexico in its fight against drug-related violence.

The vow came after talks with President Enrique Pena Nieto in the White House, in which the two discussed the recent disappearance of 43 Mexican students.

The US president said his country would be a “good partner” to its neighbour in the fight against drugs and associated problems.

“Our commitment is to be a friend and supporter of Mexico in its efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence and drug cartels that are responsible for so many tragedies inside of Mexico,” he said.

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Plan Mérida: Vital para EE.UU. y México

1/7/2015 Voz de América

Interview with Christopher Wilson

Los presidentes de Estados Unidos y México coincidieron en afirmar la necesidad de fortalecer sus relaciones en el marco de temas como seguridad, inmigración y comercio.

En un análisis de la reunión que sostuvieron los mandatarios Barack Obama y Enrique Peña Nieto en la Casa Blanca, el experto asociado del Instituto México del Centro de Pensamiento Woodrow Wilson, Christopher Wilson, dijo en entrevista con la Voz de América que ambos países reconocen la importancia de su cooperación y buscan extenderla.

“Uno de los aspectos más importantes para la seguridad se apoya en la Iniciativa Mérida y ese es el punto que requiere del mayor fortalecimiento porque las dos naciones reconocen que es un mecanismo efectivo”, dijo Wilson.

Read more and listen to the interview here…

Obama presses Mexico to Help Prevent Illegal Immigration Surge

1/6/2015 The Hill

President Obama pressed Mexico’s president on Tuesday to work alongside the U.S. government to prevent a new surge of illegal immigrants.

Obama is looking for the help after taking executive action that will offer legal status and work permits to millions of people in the United States illegally, many of them from Mexico.

In a White House meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Obama said the Mexican government had committed to help “send a very clear message” that the executive action does not cover new immigrants.

For Mexico, there’s significant incentive to help support the president’s new immigration action.

…“But the biggest reason this is celebrated by the Mexican government is they feel a responsibility to protect their citizens abroad,” said Chris Wilson, who leads the study of U.S.-Mexico border affairs at the Wilson Center. “When Mexican citizens are in the U.S. without immigration papers, they’re vulnerable. They don’t have the same access to the police, to public services.”

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The Business That Builds North American Prosperity

1/5/2015 U.S. News & World Report

Bernardo Montoya/Reuters

When Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto first visited the White House as president-elect in November 2012, he was determined to reframe the U.S.-Mexico relationship. Security had dominated the bilateral agenda since 2001, and the new administration sought to give economic ties the leading role.

…While his [EPN] bold structural reform program has impressed foreign investors and the international media, public anger over the September disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero state, compounded by a series of corruption allegations,threatens the administration’s economic message. Peña Nieto’s meeting with President Barack Obama could not come at a more critical time.

The Obama administration should seize this opportunity to review security cooperation and refocus on important joint efforts to strengthen the rule of law and confront drug-related violence. It would be a mistake, however, to allow the pendulum of the bilateral relationship to swing completely in this direction. Both dimensions — economics and security — require attention at the highest levels of government.

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Why the U.S.-Mexico Relationship Matters

1/6/2015 Politico

By Enrique Peña Nieto

The United States and Mexico have enjoyed a unique and flourishing relationship over the past decades. I am delighted to start 2015 by visiting Washington, D.C., and embarking on new ways in which Mexico and the United States can strengthen our ties in order to make North America the most prosperous and competitive region in the world.

Our countries have an intense economic relationship that is spread over a myriad of areas. Since the beginning of my administration, I have worked with President Barack Obama to create bilateral mechanisms that harness the full potential of our relationship. We are already seeing concrete results from the High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED), the Mexico-U.S. Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research (FOBESII), the Mexico-U.S. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council (MUSEIC) and the 21st Century Border Action Plan of 2014.

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