AP interview with leading presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto

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• published: 30 Jul 2015
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1. Various of Mexico''s Institutional Revolutionary Party presidential candidate Enrique Pe�a Nieto walking through offices 2. Wide of Pe�a Nieto meeting with reporters 3. Mid of Pe�a Nieto during interview 4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Enrique Pe�a Nieto, Institutional Revolutionary Party Presidential Candidate: "I am not for the legalisation (of drugs), let me make this clear. I am not in favour of this measure because it seems simplistic or as the answer for those who don''t see another way to reduce violence, so it doesn''t convince me and I am not in favour of it, but I am in favour of a debate about this issue." 5. Mid of Pe�a Nieto 6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Enrique Pe�a Nieto, Institutional Revolutionary Party Presidential Candidate: "I would make a revaluation of the objective, which is to reduce violence in the country, this is something we cannot tolerate. It doesn''t mean we shouldn''t pay attention to other crimes or that we don''t combat drug trafficking, but the central issue at this moment, is to reduce violence in the country." 7. Mid of Pe�a Nieto 8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Enrique Pe�a Nieto, Institutional Revolutionary Party Presidential Candidate: "For me it is very relevant, and my obsession as president of Mexico is to promote economic growth to create jobs." 9. Mid of Pe�a Nieto shaking hands with reporters STORYLINE Mexico''s presidential front-runner has said he opposes legalising drugs, calling the idea too "simplistic" in the fight against narcotics trafficking in the violence-plagued country. Enrique Pe�a Nieto said that allowing the use of so-called soft drugs would only open the door to abuse of harder substances. In an interview with The Associated Press, Pe�a Nieto said that so far, nobody had convinced him that legalising drugs was the solution to solving some of the problems in Mexico. He said it seemed to be "the answer for those who don''t see another way to reduce violence," adding that he was not in favour of legalising drugs, but he was "in favour of a debate about this issue." Pe�a Nieto, the governor of Mexico''s most populous state was considered a pragmatist focusing on public works. But he said on Monday that one of his main objectives is to decrease the levels of violence in Mexico, often caused by rival drug cartels. "It doesn''t mean we shouldn''t pay attention to other crimes or that we don''t combat drug trafficking, but the central issue at this moment, is to reduce violence in the country," he said. The 45-year-old candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party said he would strengthen the police, create a single state police force, and fight money-laundering. These are methods identical to those of President Felipe Calderon, whose conservative National Action Party he hopes to unseat in the July 1 elections. Pe�a Nieto couldn''t name one major distinction between his security strategy and Calderon''s, only saying that the current offensive against organised crime hasn''t produced the necessary results. More than 47,500 people have died in drug-related violence since Calderon launched his strategy in 2006. Pe�a Nieto''s party seeks to regain the presidency it lost in 2000 after 71 years. He is ahead by double digits in the polls against Mexico''s ruling party, as well as the country''s leftist party, which narrowly lost the presidency to Calderon in 2006. He would not name a specific goal or percentage for reducing violence, only saying that the resources so far have been insufficient and need to be increased in the same manner that allowed Colombia to break up its major drug cartels. Pe�a Nieto told the AP that his main objective as president would be to strengthen the economy, a subject with which he is more specific. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9f51cdad66a49ef062c71dad5e62b519 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork