{"id":16109,"date":"2018-08-21T17:07:50","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T22:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/?p=16109"},"modified":"2018-08-21T17:07:50","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T22:07:50","slug":"mexicos-outgoing-president-pena-nieto-and-president-elect-lopez-obrador-vow-to-work-together-despite-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/mexicos-outgoing-president-pena-nieto-and-president-elect-lopez-obrador-vow-to-work-together-despite-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico’s outgoing President Pe\u00f1a Nieto and President-elect Lopez Obrador vow to work together despite differences"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Los Angeles Times \/\u00a0Patrick J. McDonnell \/ August 20<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto and his once-fierce rival, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on Monday pledged cooperation in confronting the nation\u2019s challenges despite differences on issues such as education reform and a controversial airport project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pe\u00f1a Nieto and Lopez Obrador \u2014 along with many current Cabinet members and the president-elect\u2019s designated ministers \u2014 appeared together at the National Palace downtown and stressed themes of mutual respect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It was the latest in a series of gestures meant to demonstrate stability and continuity as leftist Lopez Obrador prepares to assume power amid pledges for a far-reaching \u201ctransformation\u201d of Mexican society. Pe\u00f1a Nieto has faced widespread unpopularity and the perception that he has been an ineffective leader.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt is an institutional transition but it is also a respectful transition because we have received help without conditions from the constitutional president, Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto,\u201d said Lopez Obrador, who won the presidency after losing in the two previous national elections, in 2012 and 2006.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pe\u00f1a Nieto, in turn, vowed to do all he could to ensure that \u201cthe next government begins its term in a successful fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lopez Obrador, elected July 1 in a landslide, is scheduled to take office Dec. 1 for a single six-year term. Pe\u00f1a Nieto was not a candidate in the election as Mexican law bars reelection of presidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The two men Monday answered a half dozen questions from the press but didn\u2019t veer from differences on a number of contentious issues \u2014 notably national education reform and a planned new multibillion dollar airport for Mexico City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lopez Obrador reiterated his vow to review the controversial airport plan \u2014 critics say it is too expensive and not needed \u2014 and to rescind the current administration\u2019s education overhaul blueprint. The president-elect has said he will seek out views from all sectors on how to improve the nation\u2019s moribund public education system and what to do about the airport proposal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Education reform was a centerpiece of Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s administration, but it drew fierce criticism from teachers opposed to revised rules to evaluate teacher performance. The new airport, already under construction, was the major infrastructure project of the outgoing administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lopez Obrador and Pe\u00f1a Nieto met July 3, two days after the election, but that was a one-on-one meeting before Lopez Obrador had been legally declared president-elect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite many preelection fears of an economic slide after a Lopez Obrador victory, Mexico\u2019s economy has remained stable and the peso has retained its value against the U.S. dollar and other currencies. The incoming president has vowed to revitalize the sluggish Mexican economy, but has provided few specifics beyond a broad anti-corruption push.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Since election day, Lopez Obrador has generally toned down his often fiery rhetoric\u2014 he campaigned relentlessly against what he labeled \u201cmafia of power,\u201d including Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s administration \u2014 and has met repeatedly with investors and business interests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The president-elect has also reached out to Washington and said he would invite President Trump to his inauguration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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U.S.-Mexico relations have experienced turbulence since Trump took office and repeatedly criticized Mexico and Mexicans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Negotiations are continuing between the United States, Mexico and Canada in crafting a new North American Free Trade Agreement, the three-nation accord that has governed commerce on the continent for almost a quarter century. Trump has assailed the pact as unfair to U.S. interests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The free-trade regimen is a cornerstone of the Mexican economy. Almost 80% of the nation\u2019s exports go to the United States. Pe\u00f1a Nieto and Lopez Obrador have voiced support for a new trade accord.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lopez Obrador, who ran on a leftist populist campaign vowing fundamental change, won 53% of the vote, defeating his nearest challenger by more than 30 percentage points. He has vowed to increase social-welfare payments to the poor, make higher education available to all and eliminate deep-rooted corruption.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lopez Obrador is the first Mexican president to take office with a majority vote since 1988, during the days of dominance by the country\u2019s Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The PRI’s more than seven-decade hold on the presidency ended in 2000, with the election of Vicente Fox of the right-of-center National Action Party. But Lopez Obrador is the first avowed leftist and first contender from a non-traditional party to be elected president in the 21st century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pe\u00f1a Nieto is the current standard-bearer for the PRI, which suffered a humiliating defeat in the July 1 elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lopez Obrador is among a number of left-leaning politicians who abandoned the PRI starting in the late 1980s. Lopez Obrador ran under the banner of his own party, the National Regeneration Movement, known as Morena, which is 4 years old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Morena \u2014 which includes many defectors from the PRI and other traditional parties\u2014 not only won the presidency, but garnered major majorities in both chambers of the national legislature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite his party\u2019s newfound dominance at the federal level, Lopez Obrador has repeatedly vowed to run a democratic administration and to reach out to all sectors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis government is going to represent all Mexicans,\u201d Lopez Obrador said Monday. \u201cNo one will be on the margins of the law or above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Cecilia Sanchez of The Times\u2019 Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Los Angeles Times \/\u00a0Patrick J. McDonnell \/ August 20<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Los Angeles Times \/\u00a0Patrick J. McDonnell \/ August 20 Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto and his once-fierce rival, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on Monday pledged cooperation in confronting the nation\u2019s challenges despite differences on issues such as education reform and a controversial airport project. Pe\u00f1a Nieto and Lopez Obrador \u2014 along with many current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":16110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1516,1518,1017],"tags":[722,424,199,1341,1566],"class_list":["post-16109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-international-markets","category-news","tag-canada","tag-economy","tag-mexico","tag-nafta","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nrgibroker.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}