Mexican president incumbent, Felipe Calderon, has been plagued by a brutal drug war since he took office in 2006 and no one from his conservative National Action Party appeals as a strong successor for the looming 2012 elections. However, Pena Nieto of the Industrial Revolutionary Party and Ebrard, of the Democratic Revolution Party, stand as ambitious presidential hopefuls.
Both of these hailed playboys rely on eccentric and flamboyant attempts to gain media attention (like appearing on TV with soap opera stars) but this seems to be the only commonality that these politicians share. Left wing Ebrard is sympathetic to unions, a defender of abortion rights, and champions higher taxes for welfare reform; while Right sided Nieto in contrast has sent police forces to bust up union protests, has supported abortion bans, and believes infrastructure is the key to social welfare reform. These juxtaposing politicians, if elected, seem to have ambitious plans for Mexico.
This article is pertinent to the concepts of Comparative Government as it shows Mexico slowly casting aside its stigma as an illiberal democracy. Ruled for 71 years by the single party policies of the IRP, Mexico now looks like a more solidified democracy as it allows the people more than a single party to be fairly voted into office. As well, this article shows how the media puts more emphasis on what sells the papers versus important political information--this NY Times article spent as much time addressing the presidential hopefuls' policies as it did their controversial private life and love affairs.
The next Antonio Banderas? Nope, this is the suave presidential hopeful Pena Nieto (Photo courtesy of Flickr.com)
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That was a really interesting article--and it seems to signal a real shift in the kind of politicians running the country of Mexico.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this will be a positive change for the country? How do these two leaders approach the issue of the drug cartels mentioned in the previous article?