Mexico Government: Peña Nieto Governs With Lies

Proceso: José Gil Olmos*
Translated by: Alexander Graham

Four years ago when Enrique Peña Nieto came into office he claimed that the [drug war] violence would come to an end during his administration. He predicted peace and tranquility for Mexico, as well as prosperity and well-being with his policies, in particular the energy reforms, which he himself would push in Congress. To begin with, his affirmations created an illusion and positive perception, although his promises were based upon dishonest foundations. What he was actually doing was using lies as a means of governing.

MV Note: In May, 2013, Peña Nieto presented his six-year National Developement Plan, which presented five goals he had touted in his campaign for office: Inclusive Mexico, Prosperous Mexico, Mexico in Peace; Mexico with Quality Education for All, and Mexico as an Actor with Global Responsibility. This coming week, on September 1, he will present his fourth annual report on his government.

Within his first two years as president the reality showed that Peña Nieto had lied about everything he had promised. Tax, energy, education and labor reforms were all passed, but none had any positive effect on the people. On the contrary, poverty continued increasing, [and although] inflation remained at less than 3%, the prices of gas and basic items increased, despite Nieto saying this would not come to pass. In short, everything was a lie and there was neither improvement nor social well-being.

Another lie surfaced midway through his term. Corruption and impunity emerged with the so-called "White House", acquired by his wife, Angélica Rivera, in exchange for contracts and concessions awarded to Juan José Hinojosa, the president's favorite building contractor from when he was Mexico State’s governor. Since then, property scandals have followed the First Lady all the way to Miami [in 2014, property taxes of $29,000 on her multimillion-dollar apartment were paid by a Mexican businessman who owns an adjoining apartment, of which she also has free use.], as well as cabinet members Luis Videgaray and Miguel Osorio Chong [Secretaries of the Treasury and of Government Relations who bought houses, on favorable terms, from businesses holding contracts with the government].

Another of Peña Nieto's deceptions came when he said he would respect human rights. The Tlatlaya, Tanhuato, and Apatzingán executions, the 43 disappeared students of the Ayotzinapa rural normal school, assassinated journalists and activists and the detention of protesters evidence the severity of the human rights crisis this country suffers.

His promise of peace and tranquility never came to fruition either. The cycle of violence and death in the four years of his administration has been worse than that of Felipe Calderón’s government. Peña Nieto’s official government statistics which tell us that intentional crimes such as murders and executions are down mean nothing, nor does the capture of various drug lords such as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

According to figures from the National Public Security System, in 32 months of governance there have been 57,410 violent or intentional murders and 12,500 people have disappeared during Peña Nieto’s administration, as stated by Amnesty International. [MV Note: A July report by the National Institute of Statistics found the murder rate in the first half of 2016 to be increasing.]

And so, President Nieto comes to the last two years of his term with a disreputable image in both society’s and business owners’ eyes [his public approval rate is below 30%, the lowest ever recorded for a president since such polls began in the 1980s], not only for failing to fulfill each and every one of his initial promises, but also for the blatant cases of corruption and impunity, and in recent days for the plagiarism in his university thesis [it was revealed last week that he plagiarized nearly 30% of his thesis for his law degree].

Mostly, resentment arises from his inability to confront and resolve each of the problems created by his subordinates, such as the teacher conflict incited by the Secretariats of Government Relations and Education, which has provoked even greater corporate and social unrest.

Above all, Pena Nieto arrives at the final hurdle of his term with a negative image for having the audacity to lie and make it his main tool of governance. Spanish Original

*José Gil Olmos is reporter for Proceso and author of Battles of Michoacan, Mexican Reporters in the Zapatista War, Sorcerers of Power and La Santa Muerte [Saint Death]. Twitter: @GilOlmos