Peña Nieto is the front runner in the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) presidential primary contest. He's almost certain to be PRI's candidate in the general election, and he has a very good chance of becoming Mexico's next president.
During a forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center this morning, Peña Nieto called for a withdrawal of Mexican armed forces from the drug cartel offensive launched by president Felipe Calderón in December 2006. One of the most controversial aspects of Calderón's National Security Strategy has been his use of the armed forces to root out organized crime organizations behind drug trafficking. Opponents say that since the narcotics trade is ordinary domestic crime, municipal and state police should be on the front lines, and the Mexican military should not participate. But Calderón argues vigorously that widespread corruption in local law enforcement agencies and infiltration by the cartels necessitated his federal approach.
Peña Nieto's stance comes as no surprise. We're probably getting a preview of PRI's centerpiece campaign strategy in 2012 -- the demand for removal of military units from drug combat. But the PRI candidate did not offer an alternative to Calderón's approach, other than returning local forces to the war. That's a recipe for disaster at this stage. Local forces are far from ready to go it alone, and won't be for several years.
Peña Nieto will address academics and others later this week at The American University and Georgetown University. Having spent a combined seven years studying at those two institutions, I can vouch that questioners there will be well prepared to interrogate the candidate on his views.
Enrique Peña Nieto continues to dodge key drug war issue: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/pena-nieto-still-avoids-key-drug-war.html.
Mexico is polygraphing a half million cops to see if they're clean: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/weeding-out-corrupt-local-cops-remains.html.
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