The Mexican government continues to claim progress in all areas despite its failing economy and failed security strategy. Mexico’s economy continues to be in a downward spiral and the security conditions of that country continue to be alarming.
Despite a long list of massacres, multiple cases of corruption at the highest levels, the escape of famed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and the impunity with which drug cartels are able to operate all over Mexico, President Enrique Pena Nieto continues to push an alternative view of prosperity, safety and progress.
A new report published by the American Enterprise Institute titled “Mexico’s Cycle of Crime And Corruption” further shows that the Mexican President’s vision of a boisterous economy has been derailed by that country’s violence and corruption.
In their report, Roger Noriega and Felipe Trigos claim that Pena Nieto’s plans to prioritize social and economic agendas over a comprehensive security strategy was not realistic. The escalating crime rate across the country shows that his current security policy is failing.
The report claims that the raging violence is costing the country 22 per cent of its GDP, while corruption is costing an additional 9 percent.
“If Mexico is going to take its place as a prosperous country in a globalized world, it will have to invest both political capital and money to build a criminal justice system that will apply the rule of law against violence and corruption,” the report states.
Noriega and Trigos list many of the out of control instances of violence including the case of the missing 43 education students in Ayotzinapa and the massive shootout in Jalisco where a military helicopter was shot down causing chaos in multiple municipalities.
In listing the many failings of the Pena Nieto government, the report shows how his effort to distance himself from the strategy of his predecessor Felipe Calderon where the federal government openly fought the cartels ended up backfiring.
“Instead of improving the situation, Pena Nieto’s original passive approach exposed the extraordinary weakness of institutions and the widespread corruption at the state and local level,” the report revealed.
The report was published this week just as Pena Nieto was preparing to make his third state of the country address where, as Breitbart Texas reported, the president came close to dropping a cherished national emblem during a short video message.
The state of the country speech has been widely criticized in Mexico by political rivals, critics, and journalists alike since despite the many failings in that country, Pena Nieto boasted about economic and security improvements.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.