After receiving a third of the votes, Enrique Pena Nieto, was installed as Mexico's new presidente yesterday.
Here is Tim Johnson of McClatchy's description of the day.
Enrique Pena Nieto assumed the presidency of Mexico Saturday amid
high hopes that his muscular, once-autocratic political party, which
governed this country for most of the 20th Century, will heal a bruised,
bloodied nation and rev the economy.
Pena Nieto, 46, donned the red, white and green
presidential sash shortly before noon in front of a raucous Congress and
turmoil in city streets.
Near Congress and in front of historic
Alameda Park, young protesters opposed to Pena Nieto threw rocks and
bottles at riot police, set fire to a bank branch, smashed windows of a
Hilton Hotel and numerous other storefronts and ran from a cascade of
tear gas. An undetermined number were injured.
The moment marked a chaotic return to power for the Institutional
Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which was ousted at the ballot box in 2000
after 71 years of near absolute rule.....
Fears that the party has not changed were palpable. Full page
newspaper ads lamented the “death to democracy” in Mexico and lambasted
the PRI for “buying” the July 1 election with the support of Televisa, a
huge television and media conglomerate.
The second-place
finisher, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, led a rally of thousands of
protesters at the iconic Angel of Independence monument, where a banner
referred to Pena Nieto: “Mexico hates you.”
Early in the day,
bottle-throwing protesters tried to breach security barriers outside
Congress before Pena Nieto’s arrival. Youths ripped down street-side
payphones, tore up pavement and commandeered a garbage truck, ramming it
against a tall steel security fence. Small fires burned from Molotov
cocktails.
Police said seven protesters were injured in the
morning. They denied reports that one man died from head injuries after a
homemade bottle rocket struck him. No tally was offered for afternoon
violence.
Inside the chamber, leftist lawmakers unfurled a
huge black and white banner and held up giant placards decrying Pena
Nieto’s inauguration. “Mexico in Mourning,” the banner said.
“Teleprompter president, No Need to Assemble,” another said.
Sounds even more raucous then El Norte, doesn't it? There were protests throughout Mexico, including Oaxaca, but I missed them, but did catch these.
We are living in interesting times.... which is a good thing. Change is gonna come.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/01/176083/raucous-day-in-mexico-as-pena.html#storylin
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/01/176083/raucous-day-in-mexico-as-pena.html#storylink=cpy
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