May 18, 2013
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Description
Enrique Peña Nieto is the 57th president of Mexico whose six-year term began in 2012. He is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and served as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005 to 2011. Peña Nieto was declared president-elect after the 2012 general election was declared valid by the Federal Electoral Tribunal, amidst some accusations of electoral fraud. He assumed the office on 1 December 2012, succeeding Felipe Calderón as president thereby marking the return to power of the party that ruled Mexican politics for 71 consecutive years.
Peña Nieto had announced his presidential candidacy in September 2011, four days after leaving office as governor, formally registering in November of the same year. With only 38% of the votes and without a legislative majority, Peña Nieto marked the return of the PRI after a twelve-year hiatus on 2 July 2012, a party that had governed Mexico uninterrupted for 71 years until it was defeated by the National Action Party in 2000.
The return of the PRI was not welcomed by everyone. Marches against Peña Nieto drew thousands of people across Mexico, particularly from the Yo Soy 132 student movement, who protested supposed voting irregularities and alleged media bias. Others protested that during its time in power, the PRI became a symbol of corruption, repression, economic mismanagement, and electoral fraud, and many Mexicans and urban dwellers are worried that its return may signify a return to Mexico's past. Nonetheless, Peña Nieto has denied such accusations, and promised that his government will be much more democratic, modern, and open to criticism. He also pledged that he will continue to fight organized crime and that there will be no pacts with the criminals.
(via Freebase)
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