Texas Lawmakers Warily Watch Mexico’s Election
With a mix of trepidation and optimism, Texas lawmakers are closely watching Mexico’s election on Sunday. The expected outcome would return the Institutional Revolutionary Party to power.
Polls show that Enrique Peña Nieto, a PRI member and former governor of the state of Mexico, is in line to become the country’s next president. That would swing power back to the center-left party after 12 years of rule by the more moderate National Action Party, whose legacy has been stained by six years of grueling war against drug traffickers.
But Texas lawmakers are concerned that the PRI would revive its tainted past, which included reports of corruption and deal-making with criminal elements.
United States Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Austin, who has met several times with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico, said he was skeptical about how the country’s next leader will move forward.
“In the backdrop of all this is the PRI itself and their history,” Mr. McCaul said. “Traditionally, the PRI has been the party that has played nice with the cartels.”