Presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto speaks to supporters at his party's headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico, July 2, 2012.
Voters in Mexico have chosen to bring the country's once dominant political party back into power by electing Enrique Pena Nieto as their next president.
According to the preliminary results that still must be validated, Pena Nieto had 38 percent of Sunday's vote to beat former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who had 31 percent.
On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama called Pena Nieto to congratulate him and offer U.S. support in meeting mutual goals.
Who is Enrique Peña Nieto?- A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) since 1984
- Drew national attention as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005 to 2011
- Built his reputation by making "pledges" to the State of Mexico, focusing on public works and infrastructure improvement
- Ranked among country's most handsome politicians
- Married Televisa soap star Angelica Rivera in 2010
- Admitted that he had affairs and fathered two children during his first marriage to Monica Pretelini Saenz
Pena Nieto said in an address to his supporters that Mexicans have voted for a change in direction, but he vowed to keep pressure on drug cartels.
"The fight against crime will continue with a new strategy to reduce violence and protect the lives of Mexicans," he said. "Let it be clear, with organized crime there will be no pacts or truce."
Lopez Obrador said he was not ready to concede.
"We have to represent them as they deserve to be represented, the citizens that have confided in us," he said. "We will not, in any way, act in an irresponsible way, we will have all of the information. And when it is the right time, we will inform the people of Mexico about the result of this election."
Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ruled Mexico for 71 years until 2000, when voters elected National Action Party (PAN) candidate Vicente Fox. Outgoing President Felipe Calderon, also from PAN, followed in 2006, but his tenure has been plagued by economic stagnation and rampant drug violence.
Calderon deployed the military to fight the drug cartels shortly after he took office. More than 50,000 people have been killed in drug violence since then.
The PAN candidate in this year's election, Josefina Vazquez Mota, finished third in the voting.
Poster Comment:
Pena Nieto said in an address to his supporters that Mexicans have voted for a change in direction, but he vowed to keep pressure on the cartels.
The fight against crime will continue with a new strategy to reduce violence and protect the lives of Mexicans, he said. Let it be clear, with organized crime there will be no pacts or truce.
Barry Carr, a longtime Mexico analyst at Australias Latrobe University, told VOA that many Mexicans believe Pena Nietos party has always been close to the cartels and that he is in the best position to strike a deal to stabilize the killings.
I think that we may see, not publicly, but I think we may see an attempt and I think this is what a lot of Mexicans want and that we may see the scale of the killings reduced, he said. In other words there may be an implicit deal being done under which there will be less emphasis on pursuing militarily or by police the drug cartels, and there will be an attempt to persuade the drug cartels to reduce the level of killing both of themselves and of other individuals.
http://www.infowars.com/pena-nieto-victorious-in-mexican-presidental-elections/