Enrique Peña Nieto was the winner of the Mexico’s July 1, 2012 presidential elections, represents the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Nieto was born in Atlacomulco in the State of Mexico, which he later went on to govern from 2005 to 2011. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Universidad Panamericana and a Master’s degree in Business from EGADE Business School. Although the PRI has a historic reputation of dishonesty and oppression, according to The Guardian his personal record has changed the assessment of many.

Nieto, who has been compared to the JFK for his youthful appearance and energy, exclaimed, “Mexico won today” after learning of his victory. He has outlined a large-scale transformation agenda aimed at convalescing the path of amity, security, economic expansion, and effective measures against destitution.

National Commitments:

Restore peace and freedom—Nieto pledged to decline the rate of homicides, kidnapping, extortion, and trafficking by at least 50%.

Create an inclusive Mexico without poverty—a promise to pull 15 million Mexicans out of poverty in addition to guaranteeing the full rights of women, indigenous peoples, and people with disabilities.

Grow more and better jobs—Nieto promises to further economic growth by promoting economic competition and increasing investment in infrastructure.

Provide more quality education for all—Universal coverage of preschool to high school has been vowed along with at least 45% coverage of higher education, eventually earning first place in Latin America in the PISA test.

Restore Mexico’s leadership—An oath to restore Mexico’s world leadership and consolidate as a rising power to influence in addressing major global challenges such as climate change and the trafficking of drugs, arms, and people.

Addressing the Issue of Mexican Organized Crime

One of Nieto’s primary concerns is based around the violence and crimes currently threatening the security of Mexico. He wants to seek particular preparation of their police forces in order to fight certain types of crimes, specifically focusing on three that incite the most ferocity: murder, extortion, and kidnapping. Paying particular attention to those classes of crime will enable authorities to diminish the indexes of iniquitous activity in short term. Nieto also vowed that there would be no negotiation with drug lords.

“With over 60,000 deaths in the past six years, considerable criticism from human-rights groups and debatable progress in stemming the flow of drugs, current policies must be re-examined.

Indeed, I’ve proposed initiatives that will result in a marked increase in security spending and have set as a public goal slashing violent crime significantly.”

-Enrique Peña Nieto in his presidential speech

Economic Interests and U.S.-Mexico Relations

The U.S. has a extensive attention in seeing Mexico’s democracy burgeon, its security condition recover, and its economy grow because intensifying our collaboration with Mexico is key to the future of U.S. security and economic well-being. Nieto has spoken of the possibility of expanding the NAFTA, making Mexico’s economic health a top priority.

Huge plans that would restructure the country’s narrow backdrop have been delineated—the main three include: opening the country’s energy sector to private investment; enforcing the tax code more effectively with the intent of increasing government revenue; and reforming labor laws in order to make it easier for companies to employ and release workers.

Nieto has also said that he believes that wages are too low and would like to raise salaries progressively by improving efficiency. To achieve his goals he promised to support legislation making it easier to hire and fire workers, enticing more companies into the formal economy where they can access credit and make investments.

Nieto has vowed to augment the Mexican economy, bring in more foreign investment and bring down the unemployment rate. Mexico, which is Latin America’s second largest economy, is predicted to grow between 3.5% and 4% this year.