MEXICO CITY? — The party that ruled Mexico for seven decades returned to power Saturday with a president from a new generation to govern a country that has changed dramatically in the 12 years since the Institutional Revolutionary Party last held the top post.
Associated Press reported that Enrique Pena Nieto took the oath of office after campaigning as the face of a new PRI — a party that claims to be repentant and reconstructed after being voted out of the presidency in 2000. The PRI ruled for 71 years with a mix of populist handouts, graft and rigged elections.
Pena Nieto has promised to govern democratically with transparency. But his first moves even before the inauguration showed a solid link to the past. In announcing his Cabinet on Friday, he turned to the old guard as well as new technocrats to run his administration.” Pena Nieto assumed office in the early seconds of Saturday during a brief ceremony with outgoing President Felipe Calderon at Mexico’s historic National Palace.