Dudley Althaus: Mexico's Pena Nieto Plan Glosses Over Reality Dudley Althaus - InSight
go to original May 30, 2013

Though a casual observer might view President Enrique Peña Nieto's strategy for combating gangsters as much the same as his predecessor's - and his five-year development plan has some similarities to the previous administration's - Mexico's leader and his aides insist that things are much changed and far more hopeful these days, despite signs to the contrary.

The plan, which was unveiled last week (and is available for download here), outlines security issues in stark, clear terms.

"The logic of the drug trafficking organizations changed and led to their growth," it says, in a tone rarely exercised since Peña Nieto's inauguration in December. "This increased their earnings and their ability to corrupt authorities."

The report blames Calderon's "frontal assault," which led to "power voids" and violent conflicts in key cities, and paints Calderon's efforts as disorganized, ineffective and counterproductive.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio reiterated this message last week.

"Calderon sent the troops in without objectives, clear strategy and coordination," Osorio told Insight Crime and other foreign media in Mexico City last Friday. "If we don't have objectives, why are we going? To do the same? We have to establish order," Osorio said.

But is Peña Nieto that different?

Read the rest at InSightCrime

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