After weeks of angry protests in Mexico, President Enrique Peña Nieto will reportedly announce major changes to the country’s police and justice systems on Thursday. U.S. and Florida politicians are also worried about the Mexican crisis, as is the nation's representative in Miami.
In September, 43 students vanished in Mexico’s southern Guerrero state. They were presumably massacred by drug gangsters. Police and a mayor were allegedly involved. Outraged Mexicans want President Enrique Peña Nieto to reform that criminal rot.
In a recent talk with the Miami Herald editorial board, Mexico’s consul general in Miami, José Antonio Zabalgoitia, conceded the situation is urgent.
“We need to take this as a last call in terms of strengthening the rule of law in Mexico and doing whatever is necessary for this never to happen again,” said Zabalgoitia.
This week Florida Senator Marco Rubio and 13 other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged Secretary of State John Kerry to lend Mexico more judicial reform assistance. Zabalgoitia made it clear what area of change is most important: “To strengthen our measures to avoid organized crime contaminating public office.”
For starters, Peña Nieto is now expected to put local police under federal control.
