Out with Peña Nieto? For Mexicans, Missing Students Case Overshadows All

 Mexico City — Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto kicked off his third year in office this week, expressing pride in the passage of landmark reforms like education, energy, and telecommunications. But during a speech in the southern state of Chiapas Monday, he noted that “we’re not satisfied.”

Neither is the public.

The grizzly case of 43 students kidnapped and presumed massacred in Iguala this fall still hangs over President Peña Nieto, his government, and the entire nation. The brutal event became a national symbol of the depth of corruption, the power of criminal groups, the weakness of governance, and police impunity. With presidential approval ratings faltering and violence once again taking center stage, the government is under pressure to actively address the problems at the root of the Iguala case....

Midterm elections will take place early next year. But, “the larger problem is on the street and public opinion,” says Chris Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society in New York.

“It’s not just the security issue,” Mr. Sabatini says. Peña Nieto campaigned on two things: improving security while taking the image of “bloody Mexico” out of the headlines and tackling reforms that would put Mexico on a new track economically.

But violence and crime are still front and center, and “before his reforms bore fruit, in terms of economic growth and financial investment, he gets hit in the face with this,” Sabatini says. "The people feel deceived...."

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