Mexico’s State of the Union: 120 days to go

MEXICO - In Brief 05 Sep 2013 by Esteban Manteca

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On Monday, President Pena Nieto gave his State of the Union address before a very small and select audience at the presidential residence of Los Pinos. He chose a smaller venue because since last week, Mexico City has been taken over by the dissident group of teachers who have been protesting against the recent approval of two of the three laws that would enact the Constitutional reform on Education that was passed by Congress on February. The teachers have taken several streets, and have placed both the Senate and the house under a siege of protesters, and broken havoc on the already chaotic Mexico City’s traffic. In a strong and capable response, Congress approved the remaining law (on the evaluation and professionalization of Mexican teachers) on Tuesday.As in almost every State of the Union address, the President focused on the positive figures of his first 10 months in office, rather than focusing on the recent difficulties of the Mexican economy. However, there is one particular aspect to highlight: President Pena Nieto is set on his course of promoting the major reforms he and his cabinet have been announcing during the last couple of months: the energy and the fiscal reforms. He gave his government a goal of having those major reforms (including the political one) approved and going in less than 120 days.This announcement, together with the good political operation that led to the approval of the Law on the Professional Teaching Service, brings a positive light to the coming reforms. The government will announce its fiscal reform on Sunday, must likely once the major meeting called on by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador against the energy reform had taken place. Thi...