Enrique Peña Nieto

Asia is a region with great potential, and the TPP would create a new rela­tionship with great potential for trade among the countries signing the agree­ment.
~ Enrique Peña Nieto

Enrique Peña Nieto (born 20 July 1966) is a Mexican politician and the current President of Mexico. His six-year term began in 2012. He is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and served as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005 to 2011. Peña Nieto was declared president-elect after the 2012 general election was declared valid by the Federal Electoral Tribunal, amidst accusations of electoral fraud. He took office on 1 December 2012, succeeding Felipe Calderón as president.

Quotes

• We are a sovereign nation, and we will act as such. The exercise of sovereignty implies that, in the process of negotiation, our only interest is that of Mexico and those of Mexicans.
  • As quoted in "Preparing to Meet Trump, Mexican Leader Seeks Common Ground" (23 January 2017), by Azam Ahmed, The New York Times

Foreign Affairs interview (January 2014)

Foreign Affairs interview (January 2014)

• Mexico is a country that has a lot of energy potential. We not only have oil; we also have shale gas. But we cannot expect that a Mexican state company is the only one that can exploit the resources. Resources will continue belonging to Mexicans. They are the patrimony of the nation. But the Mexican state must find more efficient ways to exploit those resources.

• Corruption is an endemic evil -- a cultural problem, not only for Mexico but for [all] Latin America. Fighting it has to do with [improving] the environment for individual development. And this involves improving the economy, which we’re doing. And wherever there’s corruption, people have to denounce it so that there’s no impunity and we can penalize or sanction corrupt practices.

• The espionage is illegal, and I think that it breaks from the climate of harmony and cordiality we should have among our nations and peoples. Given everything that is now known, and the position of other heads of state on this issue, we hope that the United States, with humbleness, will recognize [the error of] what it did and avoid such actions from now on. And if there have been violations of international law, penalties should take place.

• Asia is a region with great potential, and the TPP would create a new rela­tionship with great potential for trade among the countries signing the agree­ment. These two instruments, if they materialize, will create great oppor­tunities for Mexico. Mexico hasn’t been the obstacle to finalizing the TPP.

Quotes about

• Our current president, Enrique Peña Nieto, could not name three books he had read and finally was obliged to fall back on the Bible. Too bad he doesn’t read the Mexican Constitution before going to bed. At least it would have something to do with his job!
  • Elena Poniatowska Interview with The Paris Review (2018)