Seeking to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship.
11/1/16 The Wall Street Journal
MEXICO CITY—President Enrique Peña Nieto has set up a close ally to become Mexico’s first independent prosecutor, spurring accusations that he seeks to shield his scandal-plagued government from the kind of inquiry the new post was meant to ensure.
Mexico’s Senate confirmed Raúl Cervantes, 53 years old, as Mexico’s attorney general—the third in four years—after a whirlwind confirmation process last week that resulted in nearly unanimous approval.
10/24/16 TIME
“Could we have done things better? Maybe yes, admittedly”Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto stands by his decision to host Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for a meeting a couple months ago, but admitted Sunday the visit could have been better executed.
“Could we have done things better? Maybe yes, admittedly. I think that this genuine interest to bring about a meeting to take care of Mexico’s interests, I think, could have been done in a better way,” Peña Nieto said in an interview.
09/22/16 The New York Times
MEXICO CITY — International human rights officials are demanding an investigation into the brutal sexual assaults of 11 Mexican women during protests a decade ago — an inquiry that would take aim at President Enrique Peña Nieto, who was the governor in charge at the time of the attacks.
The demand is part of a multiyear examination by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights into abuses during a 2006 crackdown ordered by Mr. Peña Nieto on San Salvador Atenco, a town in Mexico State where demonstrators had taken over the central square.
09/15/16 ABC News
A social media campaign drew hundreds to a march demanding President Enrique Pena Nieto’s resignation as Mexico prepared for its annual independence celebration.
The turnout Thursday was small for a march in a city of 20 million residents, mostly drawing young people. But its timing reinforced the country’s dissatisfaction with Pena Nieto.
The president suffers from abysmal approval ratings that risk plunging even more after last month’s widely ridiculed meeting with U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. His party in June lost gubernatorial elections in four states it had never lost before.
09/12/16 BBC News
Supporters of gay and lesbian rights marched to Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral in response to protests on Saturday opposing same-sex marriage.
Demonstrators carried banners saying “I respect your family, respect mine.”
The cardinal of Mexico City, Norberto Rivera Carrera, denied the Catholic church was behind the protests in cities across the country.
In May, President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed a bill which would legalise same-sex marriage nationwide.
09/09/16 Financial Times
José Antonio Meade, Mexico’s new finance minister, has ramped up the country’s two-year-old austerity drive in his 2017 budget, pledging spending cuts and a return to a primary surplus for the first time since 2008.
The 2017 cuts add up to almost 240bn pesos ($12.9bn), well above the 169bn pesos in belt-tightening already announced for this year, and cuts of 124bn pesos last year.
09/10/16 The Economist
TO SAY things have been going badly for Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s president, would be an understatement. Recent embarrassments include allegations that a Miami-based company paid property taxes for his wife, revelations that he plagiarised part of his university thesis and an ill-judged rendezvous with Donald Trump. On September 7th Mr Peña tried to put the unpleasantness behind him by accepting the resignation of the finance minister, Luis Videgaray, his most important deputy, who had hopes of becoming president in 2018.
