The Week in Review: 5/29/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/29/2012

Student marches rocked Mexico City over the past week, injecting a new dynamic into the race for the first time, as Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD) takes over second place in a Mitofsky poll.

The Week in Review: 5/21/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/21/2012

After the devastating finding of 49 dismembered bodies on a highway outside Monterey that rocked the country on May 13, experts highlighted the surprising lack of attention of the major presidential candidates to concrete security solutions. Dr. Duncan Wood writes for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) about the impact of the economic situation on the upcoming elections, while Fitch Ratings determines the impact of the July 1 election to be “neutral” on the country’s creditworthiness.

The Week in Review: 5/14/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/14/2012

The PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto appears to hold his lead in the polls after the first presidential debate, and some observers bemoan the lack of interest among young Mexicans in the election and politics more generally.

The Week in Review: 5/7/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/7/2012

The presidential candidates participate in their first televised debate, accusing each other of corruption and of misleading the public. Trailing candidates focus their criticisms on the frontrunner, Enrique Peña Nieto, who did not appear to suffer any fatal blows. Observers disagreed on the best performance of the evening, which suggests that no candidate had a clear win. 

The Week in Review: 4/30/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/30/2012

Videgaray

The Wall Street Journal publishes an interview with Enrique Pena Nieto’s campaign chief, while Andrés Manuel López Obrador talks security in Monterrey and a new Reforma poll suggests the race may be closer than the conventional wisdom indicates.

The Week in Review: 4/23/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/23/2012 

With just over two months left before the July 1^st elections, the PRI’s Peña Nieto continues to secure his lead in the presidential contest as the PAN and PRD candidates struggle for second place. Some polls put the PRI-Green Party (PV) alliance ahead in congressional elections, while the PRD’s mayoral candidate leads by a wide margin in the Mexico City race. The polls are not promising for the governing PAN party.

The Week in Review: 4/16/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/16/2012

The PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota seeks to solidify party unity by expanding her campaign team, while the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto gets more specific on security policy and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador reassures business leaders.

The Week in Review: 4/9/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/9/2012

As the PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador seek to catch frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) in the narrowing window before the election, analysts wonder whether new electoral rules have made that increasingly unlikely.

The Week in Review: 4/2/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/2/2012

The political campaigns reopened on March 30^th after a month and a half long pause mandated by electoral law. The PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto commands a 15-point lead in the polls, while the PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota struggles to keep her party united behind her and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador seems unable to expand his reach beyond his core supporters.

The Week in Review: 3/26/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 3/26/2012

In this last week before the campaign reopens, a new poll shows Enrique Peña Nieto pulling away from his competition while Reforma highlights each candidate’s energy policy. While all candidates oppose outright privatization of the state-owned Pemex, two in particular favor increasing private participation and greater competition.