Mayan calendar a harbinger of PRI win in 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto says in Mérida

The man who would be president has Mayan prophecies behind him - so he claims

If you Google any combination of the words "Mayan, prophecy, 2012," you're likely to get tens of thousands of hits. Books, articles and websites abound on end-of-the-world prognostications supposedly left behind by the Yucatán's earliest settlers more than 1,500 years ago. The year 2012 is undeniably a critical one in the Mayan calendar, and it's virtually guaranteed to boost tourism in this state in the months just ahead. But while some await the occurrence of cataclysmic events allegedly predicted to occur at the end of this year, others emphasize that the Mayans merely wrote of the beginning of a new era in human existence, rather than something catastrophic. Mexico's leading presidential candidate is betting on that, too. And he plans to play a big role in it.

Speaking to Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) party stalwarts at Mérida's Century 21 Convention Center last night, Enrique Peña Nieto said that PRI will usher in that new era.

"It's written that in 2012 a change is coming, a new era will arrive. The change is that the young people of Mexico are decided in favor of PRI," the candidate told his supporters.

The Mayan prophecies suggest that "those who conceived their calendar recognized that Mexico was destined for a new era. An era marked by the reconciliation of Mexicans, by a unified society, and foremost, by the construction of a better country for all," added Peña Nieto.

Call it allegory. Call it it creative speech writing. Call it standard political hype. But does this man want to be the next president of Mexico or what?

Enrique Peña Nieto, campaigning under the audacious political moniker of Mexico's "Great Hope," published a book of policy rhetoric last year, as have some of the other candidates

More on the PRI nominee:

http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/pena-nieto-predicts-pri-victory-in-2012.html

http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/pris-great-hope-enrique-pena-nieto.html;

http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/squabble-over-candidates-literary-gaff.html