Peña Nieto strikes back on PAN "narco alliance" claims - and hits the bullseye

PAN put El Chapo Guzmán on the cover of Forbes, charges PRI candidate

Fairly or not, the Institutional Revolutionary Part is often accused of having been in bed with drug dealers during it's long seven decade rule of Mexico, which came to an end in 2000 (Is alleged PRI-narco connection fair game in Mexico's 2012 presidential election?: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/02/is-alleged-pri-narco-connection-fair.html). Yesterday PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto fired back rather on that issue rather effectively, pointing out that the most wanted drug trafficker in the world, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, escaped during PAN's watch. Here are the basics:

Guzmán was captured in Guatemala in June 1993 and extradited to Mexico for narcotics trafficking and other crimes. Once back home he was charged with additional offenses, including murder. Eventually he was transferred to a maximum security prison in Jalisco. Fearing that Mexico would in turn extradite him to answer outstanding criminal warrants in the United States, "Shorty," as he's known, arranged an escape by bribing several guards. He left prison on January 19, 2001, concealed in the bottom of a laundry cart, and hasn't been seen since. Guzmán is at the top of the F.B.I.'s and Interpol's Most Wanted lists, and Forbes Magazine claims he's one of the world's richest men (El Chapo Guzmán on 2012 Forbes richest list: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-do-carlos-slim-el-chapo-guzman.html).

The president of Mexico at the time of the escape was Vicente Fox, who had taken office on Dec. 1, 2000, just a few weeks earlier. Guzmán was rumored to have spent millions to buy his way out of prison, and allegations have been made that some of that money found its way back to Los Pinos, Mexico's White House (Vicente Fox does his best to sink Josefina: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/04/vicente-fox-does-his-best-to-sink.htm). While no Fox involvement has ever been proven, the public relations disaster occurred during the first PAN administration.

Speaking in Cancún Wednesday (May 30) at a tourism symposium, and responding to the accusations of PRI involvement with organized crime which confront him at almost every campaign stop, Peña Nieto said, "let's see -- my party put El Chapo behind bars, and the party now in power (PAN) put him on the cover of Forbes."

Touché, Enrique.

Returning the volley today, PAN candidate Josefina Vázquez Mota said, "In the next administration we'll be locking up El Chapo Guzmán, as well as some of those who have walked with PRI. The list is long; there are many who must answer as much as El Chapo."

Enrique Peña Nieto's "bold manifesto of legal rights": http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/05/pan-prd-reject-cross-urges-to-withdraw.html.
The Old Guard's worst nightmare: Andrés Manuel López Obrador: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/06/old-guards-worst-nightmare-andres.html.

An historical note

Mexico's last PRI president, Ernesto Zedillo, was in office when Guzmán was convicted and jailed. Zedillo, an economist, is now a professor at Yale. In late 2011 Zedillo was sued in a U.S. court by the survivors of indigenous Mexicans who were killed by armed forces during a regional uprising in the mid-1990s. The federal lawsuit, which alleges human rights violations based on international law, is pending. The Mexican government is defending Zedillo, and has asserted executive immunity on his behalf. The case is being closely monitored by human rights advocates in both countries.

Former Mexican president Zedillo sued for 1997 Acteal massacre: http://latindispatch.com/2011/09/20/mexico-former-president-zedillo-sued-for-1997-acteal-massacre/.

El Chapo Guzmán
El Chapo Guzmán indicted in El Paso, Texas federal court: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/04/chapo-guzman-indicted-by-feds-in-el.html
50 Matazeta executioners in Cancún to "control the plaza" for El Chapo Guzmán: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/04/50-matazeta-executioners-in-cancun-to.html.
Chapo Guzmán, just missed in Los Cabos: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/el-chapo-nabbed-almost.html.
Is Mexico closing in on El Chapo Guzmán?: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/is-mexico-closing-in-on-el-chapo-guzman.html.
U.S. confirms El Chapo is world's most wanted narco: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/us-confirms-el-chapo-guzman-is-worlds.html.
Key aid to El Chapo arrested: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/12/key-aid-to-el-chapo-guzman-arrested.html.
El Chapo WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/el-chapo-guzman-dead-or-alive.html.
El Chapo dominates U.S. narcotics trade: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/sinaloa-cartel-of-el-chapo-guzman.html.
"I'll get El Chapo": http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/pans-ernersto-cordero-promises-ill-get.html.
El Chapo's wife delivers twin daughters in L.A.: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/09/escaped-mexican-drug-lord-joaquin.html.