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Mexicans Elect Enrique Nieto as New President

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Mexicans voted to elect Enrique Pena Nieto as their new president, which marks a return to power of the Institutional Revolutionary Party that ruled Mexico for 71 straight years.

The party fell from power in 2000, when voters elected National Action Party (PAN) candidate Vicente Fox. Next came outgoing resident Felipe Calderon, also from PAN. But the nation is feeling overwhelmed by the drug violence that threatens to engulf it. Analysts surmise that the citizenry feels that the old guard Institutional Revolutionary Party is somehow closer to the drug cartels and can strike some sort of deal to curtail the violence. , followed in 2006, but his tenure has been plagued by economic stagnation and rampant drug violence.

More than 50,000 people have been killed in drug violence since Calderon took office in 2006, an astounding number.

Nieto promised to continue the fight against crime, though he didn’t say whether he would continue Calderon’s heavy reliance on the military.

“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.”

The handsome 45-year-old Nieto, whose wife Angelica Rivera is a popular soap opera actress, beat former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 38 to 31 percent.

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