Five years ago, drug violence was exploding, the economy was reeling,
and a Pentagon report likened Mexico to the terrorist-infested basket
case Pakistan, saying both were at risk of "rapid and sudden collapse."
Now the alarms about Mexico are being replaced with applause. After one
year in office, President Enrique Peña Nieto, 47, has passed the most
ambitious package of social, political and economic reforms in memory.
Global economic forces, too, have shifted in his country's direction.
Throw in the opening of Mexico's oil reserves to foreign investment for
the first time in 75 years, and smart money has begun to bet on peso
power. "I believe the conditions are very favorable for Mexico to grow,"
Peña Nieto told TIME in an interview. "I'm very optimistic."
He'll share that optimism with Barack Obama when the U.S. President
arrives in Mexico for a North American leaders summit on Feb. 19. But
"Mexico's moment," as many are calling it, could still disappoint.
Corruption and mismanagement are endemic to Mexican politics. Some of
Peña Nieto's reforms are engendering fierce resistance. And drug
trafficking, with its related crime and violence, remains a defining fact.
