Mexican President’s Activities Abroad Stoke Domestic Unrest over Corruption Allegations

Aljazeera: “Mexico president pushes trade ties in China while protests rage at home”

URL: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/13/mexico-china-trade.html

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto recently spent time in China discussing opportunities for increased trade between the two states. Meanwhile, civil unrest is raging as evidence mounts supporting the conclusion that the disappearance of forty-three students late last September was a consequence of collusion between drug cartels and local police.

While this type of trade initiative under stable circumstances would likely be received positively by the Mexican public, it has propelled perceptions of President Nieto as misdirected in his priorities and its worst, apathetic to the tragedy at hand.

President Nieto has sought to justify his actions abroad by arguing that increased trade with China will help drive economic growth and subsequently mitigate poverty throughout the state - a driving factor of drug operations in Mexico.

While the participation of Mexican authorities in the recent tragedy is extremely concerning, I don’t believe Nieto’s recent tour of China is sufficient reason to label the President as apathetic to the incident. I agree with President Nieto that increased trade between China and Mexico could contribute to the long-term uprooting of the pervasive drug trade problem in Mexico. I am less certain as to whether the President might have been able to delay his tour abroad to address the more immediate concerns of corruption.