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Enrique Peña Nieto
Peña Nieto at the World Economic Forum on Latin America (2010)
Governor of the State of Mexico
In office September 16, 2005 – September 15, 2011
Preceded by	Arturo Montiel
Succeeded by	Eruviel Ávila Villegas
Personal details
Born	(1966-07-20) July 20, 1966 (age 45) Atlacomulco, Mexico
Political party	Institutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s)	Mónica Pretelini Sáenz (1993–2007; her death) Angélica Rivera (2010–present)
Children	Paulina Alejandro Nicole
Alma mater	Panamerican University Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Enrique Peña Nieto (born July 20, 1966) is a Mexican politician. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI), he served as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005 to 2011. On September 19, 2011, he announced his candidacy in the 2012 Mexican presidential election to succeed Felipe Calderón,^[1] and formally registered his candidacy on November 27, 2011.^[2]

Family[link]

Peña Nieto was born at Atlacomulco in Mexico State.^[3] His father, Gilberto Enrique Peña del Mazo, worked for the Comisión Federal de Electricidad and his mother, María del Perpetuo Socorro Ofelia Nieto Sánchez, was a school teacher. Peña is related to several politicians: Severiano Peña, mayor of Acambay in 1914, 1916, 1921 and 1923; Alfredo del Mazo González, former governor; and Arturo Montiel Rojas, also former governor. In 1993, Peña married his first wife Mónica Pretelini with whom he had three children: Paulina, Alejandro and Nicole. Pretelini died on January 11, 2007 due to an epileptic episode.^[4][5][6] In 2008, Peña Nieto announced publicly in a TV show ^[7] his romantic relationship with Televisa soap opera actress Angélica Rivera. Rivera and Peña Nieto married on November 27, 2010 in Toluca.

On 5 April 2012, Yahoo! News published an article which mentions that Peña Nieto's alleged ex-partner had released a picture on her Twitter account (@MaritzaDiazHdz) of herself, Peña Nieto, and their supposed son.^[8] They had reportedly procreated this son while Peña Nieto was still married to his first wife.^[8]

Education[link]

During an interview published in Mexican Leaders magazine, Peña Nieto relates how he participated in his first political exercises as a junior in high school when he served as representative for his class during public ceremonies. However, his formal training and first incursions in state politics would wait until the end of his studies.^[9]

Peña Nieto has a Bachelor's degree from the Universidad Panamericana and a Master's in Business at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM).

Political beginnings[link]

In May 1990 he became secretary of the Citizen Movement of Zone I of the State Directive Committee of the National Confederation of Popular Organizations (CNOP). A year later he participated as delegate to the Organization and Citizen Front in different municipalities of the Estado de México. He also served as instructor at the Electoral Training Center of the PRI. During this time Peña Nieto also held administrative positions in the state government. Between 1993 and 1998, during Emilio Chuayfett’s term as governor, he was chief of staff for the Secretary of economic development of the State of Mexico. At the end of this period he worked as deputy secretary of government for the State of Mexico (1999–2000).^[10]

During the period between 2000 and 2002 Peña Nieto exercised different tasks for the state's administration: government administration secretary, president of the directive council for the Social Security Institute of the State of Mexico and its municipalities, president of the internal council of the Health Institute of the State of Mexico and vice-president for the State of Mexico’s government board for the Integral Family Development System (DIF). In the meantime he was individual member of the National Institute of Public Administration and member of the administrative council for different decentralized public agencies.

Local council and his run for Mexico State’s governorship[link]

His work as a state functionary and within his party helped Peña Nieto built his political career and his subsequent move into electoral positions. As a member of the PRI's National and State Political Council and delegate to the PRI's XVIII General Assembly in 2001, Peña Nieto was nominated for the local representative spot for the XIII District in the LV Legislature and he won the election.

Between September 2003 and September 2004 he was named coordinator of the PRI's parliamentary group in the LV Legislature and as Chairman of the Board of Political Coordination of the local congress. According to the book Enrique Peña Nieto, Memory of a campaign,^[11] Peña Nieto was able to get 92% of his initiatives approved unanimously.

On October 17, 2004, he officially began his participation in the PRI's internal nomination process for the governorship of the State of Mexico. The other candidates considered for the governorship were: Guillermo González Martínez, Gustavo Cárdenas Monroy, Jaime Vázquez Castillo, Eduardo Bernal Martínez, Fernando Alberto García Cuevas, Cuauhtémoc García Ortega, Isidro Pastor Medrano, Enrique Jacob Rocha, Héctor Luna de la Vega and Carlos Hank Rhon. These pre-candidates took part in conferences, seminars, round tables, and tours, whittling the original list to only six candidates participating in the official nomination process. On January 14, 2005, Peña Nieto was the last man standing. On February 12, 2005, with 15,000 sympathizers in attendance, he was sworn in as candidate for the PRI.^[12]

The PRI and the Green Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de México, PVEM) established an alliance which they claimed was to defend mutual policies of sustainable development, ecology, employment and support for youth. This alliance would nominate just one candidate. This coalition, dubbed “Alliance for Mexico” (PRI-PVEM), was approved by the Electoral Institute of the State of Mexico in March. On April 2, in Cuautitlán Izcalli, Peña Nieto was sworn in as candidate for the PVEM. On the 15th the general council of the Electoral Institute of the State of Mexico (IFE) approved his registration as candidate.^[11]

During this time other political parties announced the names of their respective candidates. National Action Party and Convergence for democracy (Convergencia Democrática, CD) (PAN) -Convergencia united behind candidate Rubén Mendoza Ayala. The Democratic Revolution Party PRD and the Labor Party PT formed their own coalition “United to win” (Unidos para ganar) and nominated Yeidckol Polevnsky.

The 2005 campaign and elections[link]

During the first months of 2005 Peña Nieto offered a list of 617 actions in the regional (118), municipal (474) and state fields (16). Peña Nieto affirmed his absolute commitment to accomplish these actions through a notarized oath signed in Toluca on June 28, 2005. This ceremony took place during his campaign's closing event which took place in Ecatepec.^[11] The election was set on Sunday July 3 of 2005, two weeks later, on August 12, Peña Nieto received the certificate which accredited him as the elected governor of the State of Mexico. He got 49% of the votes.

Governor of The State of Mexico[link]

On September 15, 2005, Peña Nieto was sworn in as constitutional governor of the State of Mexico at the Morelos theater in Toluca in front of a 5000 people, which included all the members of Parliament of the LV local Legislature.^[13]

The activities of his first year as a governor are reviewed in his First Government Inform presented on September 6, 2006.^[14] In the context of the questioned federal elections which lead the candidate of the PAN, Felipe Calderón to the victory, he invited to a national dialogue. He reported positive advances on the economic indicators of the state and the achievement of the acquired agreements during his campaign regarding education, housing and agricultural support.

Over all, there were 608 commitments signed before a public notary, all of which were supposedly achieved during Peña Nieto’s 6 year term, through more than 790 public works and 63 actions. The most important ones are those of highway infrastructure, which tripled under Peña’s government.^[15] The major projects in public transportation were the Suburban Train and the “Mexibus”, both meant to communicate Mexico City with the State of Mexico; providing service to more than 200 thousand people every day. Regarding public health services, 196 hospitals and medical centers were built throughout the state and the number of mobile units to attend remote and vulnerable areas doubled it's number. The funds for these and all the other commitments were obtained through the restructure of the state’s public debt, strategy designed by his first Secretary of Finance, Luis Videgaray Caso; managing to keep the debt from increasing during Peña Nieto's term, also because the tax base was broadened up to the point were it doubled in six years.^[16] During the course of the 2012 campaign, the National Action Party has questioned the completion of at least 100 of the commitments previously mentioned,^[17] and responding to this, the PRI presented a web page with the description of each commitment and when, where they were achieved.^[18] Peña Nieto claimed that he halved the murder rate in the State of Mexico, but retracted from this claim after The Economist showed that the murder rate did not diminish but that murders were now being measured in a different way.^[19]

On May 3, 2006, the public forces intervened in San Salvador Atenco to stop a group of flower traders from being installed in one of the main streets. After a few hours a clash between the federal, state, municipal police and the inhabitants of the region was produced, an altercation later known as the 2006 civil unrest in San Salvador Atenco. As a result, a 14 year-old boy died. The following day the state police got in to take over the situation and arrested 211 persons.^[20] Facts around this event have been contested and Amnesty International has asserted that during this event people were arrested without explanation and that several claims of sexual, physical and psychological abuse were made.^[21][22] This NGO also claims that investigations ordered by the government regarding these acts lacked objectivity and that people who still remain in custody have not yet met fair trials.^[23]

During his second year of government his wife Mónica Pretelini died on the evening of January 11, 2007. Her neurologist affirms that her patient suffered an epileptic crisis which produced arrhythmia. This led her to have a respiratory arrest and to her death at the ABC hospital after treating her at the emergency room of the Centro Médico de Toluca.^[24][25]

On May 11, 2007, in Veracruz. Nicole, Alejandro and Paulina Peña Pretelini, the governor’s children, were having holidays in the company of their maternal family members: their aunt Claudia Pretelini and their grandparents Hugo and Olga Pretelini. The group was traveling on a van through the Boulevard Manuel Ávila Camacho of the city, and was escorted by a group of agents of the Public Security Direction of State of Mexico. At around 23:45 four vans reached them and a command of henchmen opened fire against the bodyguards Fermín Esquivel Almanza, Erick Lopez Sosa, Roberto Delgado Nabor and Guillermo Ortega Serrano died.^[26] The authorities of Veracruz and Enrique Peña Nieto (who was on tour in Chalco) assured that it was a confusion between organized crime groups.^[27]

His working team is composed, in its latest version, by:^[28]

• Luis Miranda Nava: Government General secretary
• Gabriel O’Shea Cuevas: Health secretary
• Fernando Alfredo Maldonado Hernández: Work secretary
• Alberto Curi Naime: Education secretary
• Alejandro Ozuna Rivero: Social Development secretary
• David Korenfeld Federman: Water and Public Works for the development secretary
• Marcela Velasco Gonzalez: Urban development secretary
• Arturo Osornio Sanchez: Agricultural development secretary
• Carolina Monroy del Mazo: Economic development secretary
• Marco Antonio Abaid Kado: Metropolitan development secretary
• Raúl Murrieta Cummings: Finances secretary
• Alejandro Hinojosa Velasco: Controllership secretary
• Gerardo Ruiz Esparza: Communication secretary
• Fernando Maldonado Hernandez: Transport secretary
• Oscar Gustavo Cárdenas Monroy: Environment secretary
• Alfredo Castillo Cervantes: General Justice Attorney
• Martha Hilda González Calderón: Tourism secretary.

Presidential Candidate for the 2012 elections[link]

Peña Nieto was given a clear path to the nomination a week before he formally registered his candidacy, when Senator Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a likely contender for the presidency in 2012, withdrew from the race. Enrique Peña Nieto formally registered his candidacy on November 27, 2011 and later on the same month, the Revolutionary Institutional Party approved his documentation and on December 18, of the same year, Enrique Peña received his constancy of candidate of his party for the 2012 presidential election.

According to a recent US State Department diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks on 24 May 2011, Pena Nieto "is often referred to as the 'next president of Mexico.'" ^[29]

On November 23, 2011, Enrique Peña Nieto presented his book "México, la gran esperanza: un Estado eficaz para una democracia de resultados" (Mexico: The great hope: an efficient State for a democracy of results) in Casa del Lago, Mexico City, with the writer Héctor Aguilar Camín; former governor of Mexico’s Central Bank, Guillermo Ortiz; and journalist Jaime Sánchez Susarrey who reviewed the book.^[30]

According to Mexican journalists Francisco Cruz Jiménez and Jorge Toribio Montiel, the former President of Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) is supposedly supporting Peña Nieto's political campaign as the Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate for the 2012 presidential elections.^[31][32]

Security policy[link]

Peña Nieto, who has a two-digit lead from the other presidential candidates as of 27 May 2012, said in a news conference that he can ease the waves of violence in Mexican Drug War by redirecting the focus of the military approach carried out by Mexico's current president, Felipe Calderón.^[33] Instead of focusing primarily on taking down the heads of the criminal organizations and the most-wanted drug lords of the cartels, he proposes to use government resources to put down homicides, kidnappings, and extortions—crimes that do the most damage to the Mexican people—by flooding troops and police into places with the highest rates of violence crimes.^[33] Peña Nieto, however, said that his proposal does not mean that the government will not tackle other crimes nor prevent drug trafficking, but rather noted that arresting drug bosses will no longer be the focus of his administration.^[33] Opponents of Peña Nieto have said that the PRI's return will mean the going back to the "old PRI model" of making deals with the cartels.^[33] Nonetheless, the presidential candidate has praised Calderón's decision of sending in troops to fight the cartels, and has emphasized plans to increase the military presence in areas most effected by drug-related violence, like Monterrey and Veracruz.^[33] The security policy of Peña Nieto does not say that it will stop fighting the drug cartels; it proposes that it will simply shift away from targeting the heads of the cartels.^[34] This redirection is a response to the criticism made by critics to Calderón for targeting a few main cartels and splitting them up into smaller and more violent factions.^[34] Peña Nieto's strategy would align with a new strain of thinking for the general public, which calls for law enforcement in both the United States and Mexico to make violence reduction their overwhelming focus in the War on Drugs.^[34] Eric Olson, a U.S.-Mexico security co-operation scholar from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, advocates a similar strategy for the reduction of violence. Olson acknowledged that the government should slow down its attacks against cartels that are less violent than others, and focus on Mexico's "biggest problem, the violence that is terrorizing the population and undermining the legitimacy of the state."^[34] Olson said that crime will always exist, but one can make it less harmful by getting it out of people's lives as much as possible. He concluded by saying that this proposal is not a "de facto negotiation" with the cartels—but rather a question of what comes first.^[34]

Peña Nieto's pledge to change the focus of the military-led approach of the drug war can potentially have major changes.^[33]

Gaffes[link]

On 3 December 2011, during the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Peña Nieto sparked controversy during a conference with other authors, where he presented his book "México: La Gran Esperanza" (Mexico: The Great Hope). During the press conference, Peña Nieto was asked which books had marked his life, and he answered fallaciously, claiming that Enrique Krauze was the author of the book "La Silla del Águila" (The Eagle's Throne), a novel actually written by Carlos Fuentes, a Mexican storyteller and author.^[35] Peña Nieto tried to remember names of books and authors, and ended up asking the people present in the room to help him match the authors and the titles.^[36][37] Nevertheless, Peña Nieto did assert certain parables in the Bible correctly, and successfully matched The Prodigal Daughter with its actual author, Jeffrey Archer.^[38]

Peña Nieto explained that when he reads, he "focuses more on the reading" than on the authors and titles.^[39] That same night on Twitter, Peña Nieto apologized for his mistakes but recommended the books to his Twitter followers and congratulated those who criticized him, saying that their actions constitute what democracy is all about.^[40] Peña Nieto was criticized by prominent figures such as Carlos Fuentes, who said that he "does not have the right to become the President of Mexico due to his ignorance",^[41] while others defended him, such as ex president Vicente Fox^[42] and well-known journalists such as Adela Micha,^[43] Denise Maerker,^[44] Leopoldo Gómez,^[45] and Carlos Marín,^[46][47] saying that this event was blown out of proportion and that being a good reader is not necessary to be a good president and emphasized on his political intuition and his discipline.

In response to the criticism and jokes resulted of this incident, Peña Nieto's daughter called her father's critics on Twitter "a bunch of wimps" and "part of the underclass" that only criticizes "those they envy."^[48] Peña Nieto apologized for his daughter's statements, saying that her comment was an "emotional overreaction," and that he spoke with his kids and explained to them the importance of tolerating other peoples' opinions.^[49]

Later controversy was spawned on 13 December 2011 during an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País^[50] where he answered incorrectly to the question about the minimum wage in Mexico^[51][52] and when he was asked how much a kilo of tortillas cost nationwide, he replied, "I am not the housewife,"^[53][54] Immediately, jokes and tweets on Twitter with the tags #nosoylaseñoradelacasa (#I am not the house wife) were placed among the most popular.^[55][56] Peña Nieto asserted that his words had been taken "out of context," and that he meant to say that he is not the housewife in his home, and thus wouldn't know the prices.^[57] He added that he had not meant to offend women.^[58]

In addition, on 17 December 2011, several politicians of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) caused confusion after they claimed on Twitter that Miguel de la Madrid, who served as President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988, had supposedly died of a respiratory problem.^[59] Soon after the PRI state governors of Veracruz and Yucatán—Javier Duarte and Ivonne Ortega—asserted the rumor through Twitter, Peña Nieto expressed his condolences to the ex-president's family, although Miguel de la Madrid was in fact alive and in the hospital.^[60] Felipe Calderón, the current president of Mexico and member of the National Action Party (PAN), commented on de la Madrid's death and offered his sympathy to his family, but quickly reversed the tweet and clarified the rumor, explaining that de la Madrid was only in a "grave condition."^[61] Consequently, Peña Nieto later confirmed Calderon's tweet.^[62]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Enrique Peña Nieto's profile in Mexico 2012 Election Official Website
• Official State of Mexico government website
• Official personal website
• Enrique Peña Nieto in Facebook
• Enrique Peña Nieto in Twitter

See also[link]

• México state election, 2005

Enrique Peña Sánchez (Puerto Padre, Las Tunas Province, 17 July 1880 – Havana, 13 April 1922) was a leading Cuban cornet player, orchestra leader and composer.^[1][2]

Born in a small town in the old province of Oriente, Peña studied with Marcos González and José Santos Betancourt. In 1902 he moved to Havana, and founded the band La Juventud, with himself as director and cornet, Rogelio Solis (double bass), Félix González (figle), José Belén Puig (first clarinet), José Urfé (second clarinet), José de los Reyes (kettle drum) and Rufino Cárdenas (güiro). This band had several members who became well known; Puig went on to become a famous leader of his own charanga. The band functioned until 1906.

Orquesta Enrique Peña
Peña seated left

His second band was called the Orquesta típica de Enrique Peña. Its line-up was Peña (cornet); Antonio González (trombone); Féliz González (figle); José Belén Puig (1st clarinet); José Urfé (2nd clarinet); Julián Barreto (violin); Alfredo Sáenz (violin); José de los Reyes (tympani); Rufino Cárdenas (güíro) and unknown (double bass). This orchestra became famous for being the first to play El bombín de Barreto (Barreto's bowler hat), written by Urfé, which was supposedly the first danzón to incorporate a syncopated third part, influenced by the son. The group recorded about 150 numbers,^[3] some of which are available on CD.^[4]

Peña was a prolific composer of danzones, amongst which are El ñáñigo, El dengue, El demonio de la negra, La flor de Cuba, Malabares and Edén concert.

See also[link]

• Early Cuban bands

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Carmen Aristegui

Carmen Aristegui (b. January 18, 1964 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican journalist born in Mexico City. She graduated from Mexico's Universidad Nacional Autónoma with a degree in communication sciences. She is the anchor of the news program Aristegui at CNN en Español and until recently did the morning news program on MVS Radio 102.5 FM of Mexico City.

Carmen Aristegui has almost 16 years of experience as an anchor and reporter on leading radio and television programs in Mexico.

In radio, she has participated in MVS's Para Empezar ("To Begin With") W Radio's Hoy X Hoy ("Nowadays") and Grupo Imagen's Imagen Informativa (Informative Image). On television, at MVS's En Blanco y Negro ("Black and White") and Círculo Rojo ("Red Circle") on Televisa, "Primer Plano" on Canal 11 and "Noticias Canal 52, with Javier Solorzano."

Carmen Aristegui is recognized as an expert on national politics. For over five years, Aristegui hosted the Federal Electoral Institute's special political programming. In 1997, she also acted as an advisor to a civic group involved in the first election for the head of government in the Mexican Republic's capital.

Aristegui has received the Mexican Press Club's "National Award" in 2001, 2002, and 2004, and in 2003 she was recognized as the "Best National Anchor" and presented with a Public Image Award. She was also named "2004 Woman of the Year" by Mont Blanc, and was selected to carry the Olympic Torch through Mexico as part of its global journey to Athens that same year. In 2005, Aristegui received recognition from the National Institute of Indigenous Languages for her promotion of the indigenous languages of Mexico.

In 2008, she received the Maria Moors Cabot Prize.

In February 2011, her contract with MVS Radio was terminated, a move seen by protesters as authoritarian.

She was reinstated a few days after without any official statement by MVS Radio.

Return to FM radio[link]

MVS Radio and Carmen Aristegui reached an agreement in early 2009 to start a new radio show on the broadcaster's Noticias frequency. The daily show from 6:00 to 10:00 AM deals with issues in much more depth than her twenty-minute TV show for CNN. Guests on this program include various Mexican political figures, such as Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Roberto Madrazo Pintado, and several senators and governors. The show was also the platform for the release of an interview with former president Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado in which he stated his disappointment in his successor, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, because of the latter's family's corruption and links to drug cartels.

On 7 February 2011 her contract with MVS was terminated over a news report in which she invites president Calderón to respond to accusations of alcoholism made by political opponents waving a banner in the Chamber of Deputies.^[1] MVS, on a brief statement said "no news are made by rumors, our ethics code was broken, so our relationship with reporter Aristegui was terminated". She was reinstated a few days after without any official statement by MVS Radio or Aristegui. ^[2]

External links[link]

• Carmen Aristegui profile at CNN.com
• A case study on Aristegui's dismissal in 2011, The University of Oxford
• AristeguiNoticias, her news site

References[link]

Pedro Ferriz de Con is a Mexican radio and TV news anchor. During the 1990s, he worked for the Multivision Network.^[1] In January 2000 he switched to Imagen Informativa radio network, in which he has partial ownership. He regularly anchors the morning news program.

Ferríz de Con is a Civil Engineer from the Universidad Iberoamericana in México City and has a Master's Degree in Applied Mathematics from Fleming College at Lugano, Switzerland.

His father, Pedro Ferriz Santacruz is also radio announcer and politician.

References[link]