Enrique Peña Nieto, 57th President of México

Enrique Peña Nieto (born 20 July 1966), sometimes referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican politician serving as the 57th and current President of Mexico. Educated as a lawyer, Peña Nieto previously served in the State of Mexico as Secretary of Administration (2000–2002), Representative of the 13th District of the State (2003–2004), and Governor (2005–2011).

On July 1, 2012, he was elected President by winning 39% of the vote towards his political party: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in alliance with the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM). The PRI had governed Mexico uninterrupted for 71 years until it was defeated by the National Action Party (PAN) in 2000 (Vicente Fox) and 2006 (Felipe Calderón). On December 1, 2012, after the 12-year hiatus, the PRI returned to the Mexican presidency as Peña Nieto started his rule as president. Protests against the election of Peña Nieto drew tens of thousands of people across Mexico, particularly from the Yo Soy 132 student movement, who protested alleged voting irregularities and media bias. National and international award-winning Mexican reporter Carmen Aristegui detailed in 2016 how the Juárez Cartel used a series of shell corporations to fund Peña Nieto's campaign, and Peña Nieto then allowed the criminals to use government programs to launder money, and gave a previously-arrested cartel mafioso the directorship of a new government program ostensibly to help the poor, but in fact aided the Juarez Cartel.

Peña Nieto began his term as President with an approval rating of approximately 50%, but the falling value of the Mexican peso and sluggish economic growth had caused this figure to drop to 35% by 2015. Prone to gaffes, Peña Nieto has also faced several major controversies as President, including the escape of famed drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán from Altiplano prison in 2015, and accusations that he had plagiarized his law school thesis. He has also faced criticism for his handling of the abduction and murder of 43 teachers' college students in the State of Guerrero in 2014. Another crisis emerged on January 1, 2017, due to a 20% increase in gasoline prices that became known as Gasolinazo. According to the Newspaper Reforma, by August 2016, Peña Nieto's approval ratings had dropped to 23% – the lowest for any president since the paper began opinion polls in 1995. The approval decreased to 12% by January 19, 2017.

• From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Pe%C3%B1a_Nieto, accessed 2 February, 2018
• Religion: Catholicism
• Residence: Los Pinos
  • Reference: Biographical Summaries of Notable People - SmartCopy: Jun 8 2020, 2:13:45 UTC