Pena Nieto Says Mexican Presidents Do Not Yearn to 'Screw' the Country Dave Graham and Adriana Barrera - Thomson Reuters Foundation
go to original October 26, 2016

No Pienso en "Joder a Mexico" Peña Nieto (Alejandro HV)

Presidents of Mexico do not wake up thinking how to "screw" the country, current office holder Enrique Pena Nieto said on Tuesday, seeking to defend his record in government and encourage positive thinking.

Pena Nieto's reputation has been dented by abuses by security forces, conflict-of-interest scandals and political corruption. It took a fresh hit this summer when he hosted U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Mexico City on Aug. 31 for a hastily arranged visit that surprised many members of his cabinet.

Trump has long pilloried Mexico, pledging to isolate the country behind a massive border wall and saying the United States' southern neighbor has been sending rapists and drug smugglers north.

Speaking at an event in Mexico City organized by newspaper El Financiero and Bloomberg, Pena Nieto urged an audience of business folk and politicians to take an optimistic view of Mexico, even if that did not mean talking up the government.

"In this job, my only intention is for Mexico to do well, and I'm sure that's all the previous presidents have set out to do, eh?," said Pena Nieto, who has just over two years of his six-year term left to run.

"I don't think presidents get up, nor have they got up thinking, and forgive me for saying it, how to screw Mexico," using the word "joder", a vulgar term with a variety of colloquial uses across the Spanish-speaking world.

Read the rest at Thomson Reuters Foundation

Related: Peña Nieto Screws Mexico (Mexico Voices)

Related: Mexico Government: How Can the Misrule Be Governed? (Mexico Voices)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!