Mexico Institute in the News: Mexico’s new president faces stagnant economy, ongoing drug war
Enrique Peña Nieto, the current governor of Mexico State, won with approximately 38 percent of the vote, reclaiming the presidency for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (known as PRI, for its Mexican acronym), which ruled Mexico for 71 years before the National Action Party (PAN) won in both 2000 and 2006...The Mexico Institute's Christopher Wilson comments.
Las Vegas Sun, 7/03/2012
With two highly anticipated Supreme Court decisions released last week and a domestic presidential race growing more contentious as the calendar ticks toward November, the U.S. public could be forgiven if it failed to realize that Mexicans went to the polls Sunday to choose their next president.
While U.S. observers of Mexican politics said drastic changes in policy were unlikely, how Peña Nieto tackles his six-year term can affect the future course of the drug war, the health of Mexico’s economy and, as a result, immigration from south of the Rio Grande.
“The country has changed dramatically in the last 20 years,” said Chris Wilson, an analyst at the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. “A lot of checks and balances are in place now that didn’t exist when the PRI had an era of single-party rule. Congress is independent, the PRI doesn’t have a simple majority, and the governors have gained a great deal of independence.”
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The Mexico Institute seeks 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. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute. Read more
