Fading Ibero-American Summit Offers Mexico Leader Pena Nieto Respite Agence France-Presse
go to original December 7, 2014

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto hosts an Ibero-American summit Monday that could give him some respite from a security crisis battering his international image, though the forum has lost prestige.

The two-day meeting in the eastern port of Veracruz comes as Pena Nieto faces the biggest challenge of his presidency, with a wave of protests over the apparent massacre of 43 students by a police-backed gang.

The summit between Spain, Portugal and their former empires will give Pena Nieto a chance to shift the conversation away from the drug violence haunting his country.

"This summit will mainly be to show that Mexico is still functioning, it is still working, and that the Pena Nieto government is strong and has a direction," said Ana Luisa Trujillo Juarez, an international relations expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University.

Regional leaders will likely back Pena Nieto's efforts to restore security in Mexico "because it is a key country and, in the end, they want more stability in our country to benefit the region," she told AFP.

Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade said the talks will focus on culture, innovation and education, telling Radio Formula that these issues "help us build conditions of peace."

But the gathering has attracted fewer and fewer regional leaders over the years, prompting last year's summit to decide to hold the meeting every two years after Mexico hosts it.

Last year, only 11 of 22 leaders attended the Panama summit.

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