veteran career diplomat in Mexico
Veteran career diplomat in Mexico, he served Deputy Foreign Minister of Mexico and former Mexican Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1995-1997); nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; former Chairman of the Mexican Council for International Affairs
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
Mexico's Presidential Election and the War on Drugs When Felipe Calderón was elected President six years ago, he declared a military offensive against Mexico's murderous drug cartels. Since then, 50,000 people have died. Calderón's term is over and he is barred from seeking a second six-year term. Former President Vicente Fox has called for drug legalization, and although all three major candidates in the July election have pledged to reduce the violence, none has been specific so early in a three-month campaign. Enrique Peña Nieto, the leading candidate, belongs to the PRI, which ran the country for 70 years; Calderón's conservative PAN party is running Josefina Vázquez Mota, the first woman candidate of a major party; and the left-leaning PRD has nominated Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former Mayor of Mexico City. We hear about a nation of disillusioned voters, and what the election results could mean for the US.
Summit of the Americas Highlights US Isolation After the first Western Hemisphere summit since 2009, President Obama and Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos reached agreement on labor rights and a free-trade agreement. But the broader meeting of heads of state produced mixed results , including sharply divided outlooks on drugs and Cuba. Andrés Rozental is a former deputy foreign minister of Mexico, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.
Calderon Addresses a Joint Session of Congress Felipe Calderon got a standing ovation today from a joint session of Congress when he pledged to continue his all out war against violent drug cartels. Reaction was mixed when he attacked Arizona’s new immigration law and asked for the US ban on assault weapons to be reinstated. But despite today’s rare Capitol Hill appearance and last night’s White-House state dinner, critics say Calderon’s actions could be counterproductive. What about poverty, widespread corruption, and recent charges of favoritism for one drug cartel over others? Does his all-out war on drug cartels make for less violence—or more? What’s the impact on illegal immigration?
Calderon Addresses a Joint Session of Congress Felipe Calderon got a standing ovation today from a joint session of Congress when he pledged to continue his all out war against violent drug cartels. Reaction was mixed when he attacked Arizona’s new immigration law and asked for the US ban on assault weapons to be reinstated. But despite today’s rare Capitol Hill appearance and last night’s White-House state dinner, critics say Calderon’s actions could be counterproductive. What about poverty, widespread corruption, and recent charges of favoritism for one drug cartel over others? Does his all-out war on drug cartels make for less violence—or more? What’s the impact on illegal immigration?
A New President Goes South of the Border On a trip to Chile, Vice President Biden met with the leaders of several Latin American countries. But on his way to the Summit of the Americas , President Obama will visit just one. Tomorrow, he makes his first trip to Mexico.
A New President Goes South of the Border On a trip to Chile, Vice President Biden met with the leaders of several Latin American countries. But on his way to the Summit of the Americas , President Barack Obama will visit just one. Today the President defended his tax policies . Tomorrow, he'll head for Mexico before continuing on to the Caribbean for the summit. After six years of growth, Latin America is hard hit by the recession, and leaders are looking for help from a new US president who's popular in their countries. Will Obama seize the chance to re-engage? Will he be upstaged by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez? What about Cuba? In addition to supporting President Calderon's war on drugs, will Obama push for reforms in Mexico's justice system?
Can the US Mend Fences while Building Fences? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico today to shore up relations with Mexican President Felipe Calderón at a time when US relations with Mexico have never been more complex. As the United States is speeding hundreds of federal agents to the Mexican border as part of an ambitious new plan to prevent the drug cartels' surging violence from spilling over into the US, tensions continue on NAFTA , the recession in the US has hit hard in Mexico, and illegal immigration remains a hot button of American politics. Is President Obama's next foreign crisis next door? With a bloody drug war raging out of control, is Mexico a failed state?
Can the US Mend Fences while Building Fences? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico today to shore up relations with Mexican President Felipe Calderón at a time when US relations with Mexico have never been more complex. As the United States is speeding hundreds of federal agents to the Mexican border as part of an ambitious new plan to prevent the drug cartels' surging violence from spilling over into the US, tensions continue on NAFTA , the recession in the US has hit hard in Mexico, and illegal immigration remains a hot button of American politics. Is President Obama's next foreign crisis next door? With a bloody drug war raging out of control, is Mexico a failed state?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.