Wednesday, August 17, 2011

What La Mano con Ojos Says about Peña Nieto

Jorge Fernández Menéndez:
What catches the eye with this arrest is that it was carried out, without the collaboration of the Federal Police or the armed forces, by the security forces of the State of Mexico. Beyond the fact that in the operation some errors and abuses were committed, the fact is that, in his exit from government, Enrique Peña Nieto wanted to send an important message on security, which can be summarized in something very clear and simple: if he is the candidate and, later, president, he will continue combating, in a direct way and with arrests of this type, criminal groups. This operation seems to say that those who think with Peña in the government this process won’t continue are wrong.
Interesting stuff, but I think it’s not altogether positive that people automatically leap to the relevant executive on these sorts of arrests. I have no idea whether Peña Nieto wanted to send a message or not, but I do know that the arrest of one of the big-time local operators shouldn’t be the result of a governor wanting to send a message. It should be the result of autonomous agencies doing their job.

2 comments:

Mexfiles said...

You're assume the "message" was for Mexican voters. Maybe it was for Washington, assuring them that the PRI would continue the boondoggle for U.S. "contractors" known as "Plan Merida".

Sorry to sound more cynical than usual, but with the U.S. addicted to military spending, preferably without fighting a war (with domestic casualties, like the unpopular invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan), and a Mexico that remains economically dependent on them, Washington was facing a real dilemma with the more than likely defeat of the pro-U.S. PAN administration. This assures the U.S. (who couldn't care less about things like smashing up some poet's home) that a PRI victory will ensure "stability" (at least in the things the U.S. cares about).

pc said...

I'm definitely not assuming that it was a message for Mexicans or Americans, I'm not sure where you get that from what I wrote. My point is that it's unfortunate that we look for messages from executive officials with every arrest.