Watch John Oliver Break Down Next Month’s Mexican Elections
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Considering that we stole a state that has a GDP roughly equivalent to that of Canada’s from Mexico, let alone the fact that we share a 1,900-mile border with them, you’d think Americans would know more about our southern neighbors other than just a cultural appreciation for guacamole. But, as usual, John Oliver is here to remind us that we don’t know much about anything, and this week on Last Week Tonight, he delivered a crash course on the upcoming Mexican elections.
As Oliver explains, this election is one of the biggest in Mexican history. On July 1, Mexico will elect not only a new president, but also a large proportion of its congress and a new mayor of Mexico City, the largest metropolitan area in the Western hemisphere. It’s an opportunity for a major shift to occur in Mexican politics, and the country’s populace could not be more eager, given its relationship with current president Enrique Peña Nieto, who’s currently sitting at a comfortable 12 percent approval rating.
Peña Nieto was elected in 2012, despite scandals that emerged before the election that he had fathered two children outside of his marriage to his first wife before she died of epilepsy, officially making John Edwards look like husband material. Corruption has spiked to new peaks during his term—there are currently 14 former or current Mexican governors under investigation for corruption or collusion with organized crime cartels, out of Mexico’s 31 states—and the country is on pace for a record 32,000 reported murders this year, which is more than double the murder rate in 2014. Only two percent of these crimes have been solved. When Peña Nieto is seen or referenced, Mexico’s population has taken to chanting “Fuck your bitch mother” at him.
Most damningly, 43 students disappeared in 2014 after boarding a bus to Iguala for a fundraising trip under Peña Nieto’s watch. The city’s mayor was concerned that the students would disrupt an event for his wife and had the city’s police stop their bus. After the officers opened fire, the students were turned over to a drug gang who killed them and burned their bodies. Despite evidence that the federal police and military were involved in the attacks, Peña Nieto has not pursued justice for the students, causing widespread and justified outrage.
Thankfully, Mexican presidents are limited to one term, and Oliver uses the rest of the segment to discuss Peña Nieto’s potential replacements. One is Jaime Rodríguez Calderón of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He’s an unlikely winner, given that he’s legitimately running on a platform of both literally cutting off thieves’ hands and repeatedly telling children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist (though, St. Nick, played by Bobby Moynihan, makes an appearance and he certainly begs to differ).