You Will Anyway: Peña Nieto's legacy

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Peña Nieto's legacy

Mexico's outgoing government has conferred the country's highest civilian honour for foreigners to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a decision that has caused a social media outcry.

President Enrique Pena Nieto is expected to bestow the Order of the Aztec on Kushner [...] in a ceremony on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Thursday, Mexico's Reforma newspaper reported.

alJazeera

For what?

"It is an attribution of the president and I want to give it to him," he told reporters who asked to justify the announcement. "I want to recognise [the person] who has been a great ally of Mexico," said the president.

A statement believed by precisely no one.

The 37-year-old has been credited with renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, the United States and Canada.

So the question is, what did Peña Nieto get personally from that or a side deal?

"Mr Kushner's participating was decisive in initiating the process of renegotiating NAFTA, preventing a unilateral exit from the United States of said treaty, and his constant and effective involvement was key to achieving a successful conclusion of the negotiations," read a Mexican foreign ministry statement.

Right.

Past recipients of the honour include Colombian Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, former South African President and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Walt Disney and former Argentinean first lady Evita Perón.

Jared Kushner in the company of Nelson Mandela, Garcia Marquez and Evita.

Peña Nieto leaves office as a loathed figure on 30 November after six years of corruption and conflict-of-interest scandals. His approval rating hovers at just 24%, according to pollster Consulta Mitofsky.

[...]

Carlos Bravo Regidor, a professor at the Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics, said: “This is the perfect ending for Peña Nieto’s term: an insuperable illustration of the indignity of his government’s position regarding Trump.

“It’s the final kick in the crotch for Mexicans.”

Only by Peña Nieto. Jared is still here.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.