Mexico Gets a New President
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When Americans are asked what words they associate with Mexico, the most common are "drugs," "poor" and "unsafe." Even before tomorrow's inauguration, the newly elected president has been trying to alter that negative image. We hear different views of what to expect. Also, protests continue as Egypt's Islamist Assembly rushes through a new charter, and the UN votes to give Palestine Non-Member Observer State status.
Banner image: Enrique Peña Nieto, then-Governor of the State of Mexico speaks at the World Economic Forum on Latin America 2010. Photo by Edgar Alberto Domínguez Cataño/WEF/flickr
Main Topic
Mexico's New President, a Shaky Economy and the Ongoing Drug War ()
Tomorrow, Mexico will inaugurate its newly elected president without either much fanfare or political protest. Enrique Peña Nieto, who won with a plurality of just 38 percent, will preside over an economy full of potential but held back by corruption, poverty and a drug war that's killed 60,000 people. The US has poured $2 billion into that conflict, but it rages on. Will Peña Nieto look for changes after marijuana legalization in two American states? What about illegal immigration? Are tough new border restrictions making it harder to implement NAFTA and the promise of prosperity for this country's nearest neighbor?
President Barack Obama meets with President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico
in the Oval Office, November 27, 2012. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Guests:
- Tracy Wilkinson: Los Angeles Times, @latimes
- Andres Rozental: veteran career diplomat in Mexico
- Tim Padgett: Time magazine, @TimPadgett2
- Shannon O'Neil: Council on Foreign Relations, @shannonkoneil
Links:
- Economist magazine on the rise of Mexico
- Wilkinson on the US-Mexico drug war partnership under Calderon
- Padgett's interview with President-Elect Pena Nieto
- Rozental on Calderon's legacy
- O'Neil's 'Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States and the Road Ahead'
- O'Neil on Mexico's transformation
Reporter's Notebook
UN Votes to Give Palestine Non-Member Observer State Status ()
Yesterday, the General Assembly gave the Palestinian Territories new status at the United Nations. Opposition, including that of the US, mustered just nine voters against 138. Last night, Israel took steps toward expanding settlements in disputed East Jerusalem. UN Ambassador Susan Rice faulted the resolution for placing "further obstacles in the path to peace…Today's grand pronouncements will soon fade, and the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed."
Guests:
- Daoud Kuttab: Community Media Network, @daoudkuttab
- Stewart Patrick: Council on Foreign Relations, @StewartMPatrick
Links:
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