Enrique Peña Nieto on Drug Cartels

Enrique Peña Nieto, upon taking office in December 2012, implemented a security policy that represented a rhetorical and strategic shift from his predecessor's focus on confronting drug trafficking organizations head-on. His core position was to prioritize the reduction of high-impact crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and extortion, which inflicted the most damage on the Mexican people, rather than maintaining the previous administration's 'kingpin strategy' of capturing or killing cartel leaders. This redirection was framed as a response to criticism that targeting kingpins only fragmented cartels, leading to more violent factions. A key component of this new approach was the planned creation of a 40,000-member national gendarmerie, intended to address violence and support weak municipal police forces. He also expressed openness to a new debate on drug legalization and regulation, though he personally was not in favor of legalization.

Contextually, his administration sought to address the underlying social causes of crime through socio-economic programs, aiming to undercut cartel recruitment by improving welfare and employment opportunities. However, the strategy was criticized for being unclear on execution and there were concerns from some U.S. officials that the return of his party might signal a return to older, corrupt practices of making deals with cartels, which he denied. While initial homicide rates decreased during the first two years of his term, violence later sharply escalated, and the effectiveness of the new gendarmerie and anti-corruption efforts was questioned.