From the outset, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s presidency sought to shift attention from combating violence to pursuing an ambitious reform agenda. Yet, with last September’s disappearance of 43 students in the town of Ayotzinapa and the strong public reaction to the country’s most serious citizen security incident in a decade, security challenges in Mexico have taken new public prominence.
What have been the successes and failures of Peña Nieto’s security strategy and approach to human rights problems, and to what extent does it differ from that of his predecessor, Felipe Calderón? Are the country’s security-related institutions like police forces and courts becoming more or less effective? What have been federal and state government responses to the Ayotzinapa disappearances? To what extent have this case and the continuing security and human rights challenges affected public credibility of the Peña Nieto government? Is the reform agenda at some risk as a result? Have this case and the government’s reaction to it affected US-Mexico relations? What steps are different actors, both governmental and non-governmental, taking to more effectively address this situation in Mexico?
Speakers
- Enrique Betancourt
Director, Urban Security Initative, Chemonics International - Rodrigo Canales
Chief Policy Advisor, Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. - Maureen Meyer
Senior Associate for Mexico and Migrant Rights, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
