Mexico news Sept.6

Posted by The Generals on September 16, 2012, 12:58 pm
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Subject: Mexico News DAILY September 06, 2012 Mexico Calderón and Peña Nieto discuss transition Development: On 5 September outgoing President Felipe Calderón held his first official meeting with his elected successor Enrique Peña Nieto in the Los Pinos presidential residence. Significance: Despite their political differences – Calderón hails from the centre-right Patido Acción Nacional (PAN) and Peña Nieto from the centre-left Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) — both men want to see a smooth transition. Peña Nieto will need the PAN’s support in congress for his future reform plans, while Calderón wants the new government to continue some of his policies, particularly his unpopular security strategy, which he considers essential. Key points: • Calderón said the pair had discussed two main issues: security and the economy. Peña Nieto said his objective was a “harmonious and institutional transition so as not to interrupt the functioning of the government”. He praised Calderón’s handling of the economy. • Also present at the meeting were Peña Nieto’s transition team coordinators, Luis Videgaray and Miguel Angel Osorio Chong. Notably, Osorio Chong, the coordinator for political dialogue and security, told the press afterwards that Peña Nieto would largely continue with Calderón’s security strategy for now, with the military and federal forces remaining deployed for the moment. “But of course we will modify the strategy”, he added. • Following Calderón’s final ‘Informe’, the head of the navy, Mariano Francisco Saynez, uncharacteristically remarked on Mexico’s current security strategy. He said the government needed to modify its strategy of “massively using” the armed forces to combat organised crime and concentrate more on intelligence gathering in order to “reduce violence”. • Political support for Calderón’s strategy is not unanimous, even within the PAN. In a recent article published on his Centro Fox website on 4 September, the former president Vicente Fox (2000-2006) urged Peña Nieto to “end the useless war” launched in December 2006 by Calderón. Fox, Mexico’s first PAN president, has been critical of his successor and during the elections called on Mexicans to back Peña Nieto ahead of the PAN candidate. Retaining the support of a still influential PAN figure could be useful for Peña Nieto.

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