It was a mugging, but the hemisphere’s “moral conscience” survived. And Mexico played a key role.

A body that you may not have heard of – the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – survived an attack by four countries: Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The commission has been around for nearly half a century. It is despised by dictators, abhorred by autocrats and loathed by the Latin nations under the shadow of Venezuela’s late Hugo Chavez. Those countries mounted a dark alley assault on what one columnist calls a “human rights heavyweight.”

So foreign ministers from around the hemisphere on Friday poured into Washington to the stately headquarters of the Organization of American States, the hemisphere’s oldest body, to debate the IACHR’s future. Debate lasted nearly 12 hours and concluded with a vote of confidence in the commission.

The strong support of Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade drew the attention of my colleague Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald. He examines here whether Mexico’s ruling PRI – long a friend of dictatorial regimes in the hemisphere – has changed its stripes. His conclusion: No, this was one-off support.

First, a little background: the human rights commission is a bit of an orphan. Nations don’t even want to pay for it. European governments and entities finance nearly a third of its budget. Aspects of the commission’s charter also make some U.S. politicians uncomfortable. The charter rejects the death penalty, for instance.

So despite playing a role in setting up the legal scaffolding of the hemisphere’s human rights structure in 1969, U.S. lawmakers have never ratified the treaty.

This is the flank where Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa aims his dagger. Correa (that's him in an AP photo) has taken the lead in flaying the commission and a second OAS institution that seeks to protect freedom of expression (aiming its wrath at Correa’s own attacks on the press in his country).

Correa railed against the commission in a special preparatory meeting before the OAS in Guayaquil on March 11:

“How is it possible that the commission is financed almost entirely, exactly 96.5%, by countries that have not ratified the Convention on Human Rights of the OAS, by countries so called "Observer States," which are not part of the Inter-American System, and by organizations and international cooperation foundations of those same countries?

“In the name of human rights, they pay to control others. How long will we endure such a contradiction? We all know that since the world began, who finances imposes the conditions. Enough of such hypocrisy!”

Correa blasted the OAS for putting the headquarters of the rights commission in Washington, a nation that hasn’t ratified the overarching rights treaty, saying it should be in a nation that respects all aspects of rights (implying his own nation).

“Here, torture is not allowed, there is no death penalty, we have not invaded anyone at all, no drones and selectively killing of terrorism suspects without trials, along with ‘collateral damage’ of family, neighbors, etc.”

In his speech before the OAS Friday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns lauded the commission as the “moral conscience” of the region, and said that during the Cold War years it “faced down military strongmen, documented forced disappearances, and catalogued the human costs” of civil wars.

He said the U.S. supports the commission’s work “even as it raises challenging issues for us – from the death penalty and the human rights of migrants and incarcerated children, to the status of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.”

Meade, the Mexican secretary, strongly urged Latin nations to pony up more money for the cash-strapped commission, ratify the overarching treaty and obey the resolutions of the commission among:

“Now is the time for states to give full support to the Commission, particularly financial, to implement these reforms.”

Whether Mexico’s PRI vote was a one-off, President Enrique Pena Nieto wants to reassert Mexican leadership in Latin America. Meade took the trouble to travel to DC for the assembly, rather than deploying a lower level diplomat, and his support comes even though Mexico is likely to feel a pinch from future commission rulings again in the future.

It's possible to read too much in photos from a summit that took place half a world away. President Enrique Pena Nieto attended a summit of Latin and European leaders over the weekend in Santiago, Chile. But I must say, I was struck with the body language seen in some of the photos. Pena Nieto seemed completely at ease with Cuban leader Raul Castro in the photo above. Someone seems to have told a good joke.

These photos are handouts from the Mexican presidency.

In contrast, both Pena Nieto and Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner seem very formal and slightly uncomfortable in the handout photo. It's not like they don't know each other. Pena Nieto visited Argentina last fall before taking office as part of a swing through South America. Language is not a barrier for the two.

For most Mexicans, Angelica Rivera needs no introduction. A soap opera star, she’s been in the public eye for two decades.

But her latest role is not a stellar one, certainly not like her part as “La Gaviota,” or The Seagull, in the soap opera titled Destilando Amor (Distilling Love) that was wildly successful and told of love in the town of Tequila, cradle of Mexico’s most fabled liquor.

Her new role is First Lady of Mexico and it requires her to stay in the background of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Pena Nieto’s handlers certainly helped her reshape her image during the campaign. Gone were the sexy dresses. In their place were conservative clothes. The handlers also seem to be airbrushing her past.

Rivera, 42, had a 14-year previous relationship with a Televisa producer, Jose Alberto Castro, and the union produced three children. But no mention is made of that in the biography of the First Lady posted on the official presidential website, and only the briefest of mentions is made of her acting career.

“The First Lady has said on many occasions that her greatest challenge and biggest honor are serving both Mexico and the work of the man she most admires.”

Okay, already.

Pena Nieto’s official bio doesn’t point out that he was married for 13 years to Monica Pretelini, who died in 2007. The couple had three children (link in Spanish).

I guess you could call it a Modern Family, a widower and a divorcee remarry and pull their kids together. All six kids from the two marriages now live with the two in Los Pinos, the presidential residence.

I’ve been based in Mexico since early 2010, and in that period President Felipe Calderon has not offered a single press conference in Mexico City that I’m aware of.

He’s occasionally taken a question or two while traveling abroad. Very few, though. And in reality, Calderon seems press shy. This hurts Mexico.

I bring this up because President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto is now on the fifth day of a trip across Latin America. He’s leaving Chile as I write this and flying to Argentina. Like him or not, Pena Nieto is raising Mexico’s profile abroad, fulfilling a campaign promise. (He's seen here while in Brazil with his wife, the television soap opera star Angelica Rivera.)

Large media are giving him extensive coverage during stops in Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil. And he’s speaking with journalists along the way. While in Brazil, the magazine Epoca published a long interview with him, and this morning El Mercurio (the national newspaper of Chile) published an interview. A press release from his people said he also met with a group of Chilean editors this morning. 

In Buenos Aires tomorrow, Pena Nieto is offering a full-fledged press conference. Let’s see if this kind of exposure to journalists will continue after he takes office Dec. 1.

President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto gave a brief interview to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, and his stuttering performance has set tongues wagging in Mexico. Whether it was audio feedback problems or coaching by someone near him, Pena Nieto did not perform as well as he could. Mexicans who don't support Pena Nieto have set social media abuzz with claims that either Pena Nieto was reading his answers from a Teleprompter or being coached on what to say. Even if you don't understand Spanish, you can see how Pena Nieto pauses, blinks and does not appear comfortable. I'm inclined to believe he remains uncomfortable in front of international audiences, and that is the sum of it. CNN issued a statement about it. I couldn't find it in English but here's a partial Google translated version:

"There was no Teleprompter, and Mr. Pena Nieto heard the questions asked in English by Dr. Zakaria in New York through an intercom or IFB (Interrupted Feedback). We did not use any other audio source."

The responses of Mr. Pena Nieto were in Spanish and rendered into English for Dr. Zakaria and our international audience by a translator. Mr. Pena Nieto provided the answers without the help of anyone. Also, there were no preconditions for the interview, and the questions were not provided in advance to Mr. Pena Nieto." 

Doubts about whether Mexico will stay the course against organized crime after a change of government later this year are rampant in Washington.

Here’s a bit of interchange between Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at a hearing yesterday before the Senate Armed Services Committee on world wide threats.

MCCAIN: Quickly, is -- in the situation in Mexico, do you believe that -- as you know 50,000 Mexicans have lost their lives as a result of drug related violence. Is your assessment that these violent criminal organizations pose a threat to the United States, including states along the border?

CLAPPER: Yes, sir they do. There -- there is always the prospect of spillover and that's one reason why we were working closely with the Mexican government and that's particularly true with respect to intelligence initiatives that we're working with them, which I can -- happy to discuss in closed session. But there is a profound threat to both countries.

MCCAIN: Have you seen any indication that the top candidates vying to succeed President Calderon will alter the way the Mexican government addresses the threat of the cartels

CLAPPER: I believe, sir that -- I can't do a one by one assessment, but I believe that the -- no matter who succeeds President Calderon, they -- they will be committed to continue this -- this campaign.

MCCAIN: Well, I suggest you look a little more carefully because I think that may not be the case, at least with one of the candidates.

Set upon by journalists after the hearing, McCain declined to say whether he was referring to Enrique Pena Nieto, the front-runner in polls. Pena Nieto belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party which ruled Mexico for decades and has a history of accommodation with organized criminal groups.

“Do you think I am so stupid to give names?” McCain told the reporters.

Apparently after months of delays, caused by a busy schedule that included escorting travel journalist Peter Greenberg around Mexico, President Felipe Calderon sat down last week with journalists from the New York Times.

That there were long delays in arranging the interview is known because Times newsman Damien Cave so tweeted on Sept. 20:

Despite months of requests, President Calderon has decided not to speak with us. Travel shows, yes. New York Times, no.

And 

Pres. Calderon, though he talks often about the U.S., has generally refused to sit 4 tough questions from correspondents in his own country.

And finally,

I should clarify. We still have a request in to Calderon. A long standing request, not yet accepted. But they could still say yes. Right?

In the end, Calderon acceded. The interview took place and was played on the less than illustrious page 6A of the Gray Lady.

What I found interesting is not so much the interview, which probably contains more quotes from others about Calderon than what he had to say himself. Rather, it’s that Los Pinos found it necessary to send out a clarification tonight on several points, including the suggestion that members of the PRI might want to reach an accommodation with narcos rather than continue the kind of battle that Calderon has waged.

Los Pinos found a need to expand on this paragraph in the story:

One change Mr. Calderón has pressed for would give the president wide latitude to declare a state of emergency and suspend constitutional guarantees, provoking criticism that the plan would worsen abuses by the military. 

Los Pinos said Calderon has not considered such a move.

There’s really little surprise that Calderon would take so long to speak one-on-one to a U.S. newspaper with a bureau in Mexico (it’s the first such interview since I arrived in March 2010). Calderon has many audiences that he must address, ranging from those in his own party, Mexicans in general, the political opposition, U.S. politicians, and fellow Latin leaders. I don’t think the general U.S. public would be high on that list. And as Damien Cave suggests, Calderon can get tough questions that need follow-up clarifications.

This is a 12-minute video from a recent TED conference in San Miguel de Allende. The presenter is Emiliano Salinas, the son of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, perhaps the most polarizing and disliked politician in Mexico's modern history. The son makes a very effective presentation about the apathy and denial of many Mexicans to the crisis facing the nation. He says Mexicans must move from portraying themselves as victims and denial of the crisis into phases of anger and nonviolent action. He notes right at the beginning that some will dismiss his message because he is the son of Salinas de Gortari. TED, by the way, has been around for more than two decades. The nonprofit operates under the slogan of Ideas Worth Spreading. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. I don't know exactly when this conference in San Miguel was held. 

It’s either good investigative journalism or a nefarious “black campaign.”

Whether true or false, Mexico state Gov. Enrique Peña Nieto has been knocked for a loop by a YouTube video that purports to show him as a regular customer of a posh Beverly Hills boutique.

Peña Nieto is far ahead in the polls for 2012 presidential elections, and riding out front makes him an easy target, as this scandal shows.

The video popped up on YouTube earlier this week. It shows the House of Bijan, perhaps Beverly Hills’ most exclusive men’s shop, displaying a wall clock with Peña Nieto’s name on it. The clock is alongside others who are purportedly clients of Bijan, including the Prince of Wales, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and dozens of others.

Peña Nieto’s opponents immediately started bashing him, saying earning a clock on the wall of Bijan is only for those who spend between $2 and $5 million there.

Here’s what Education Secretary Alonso Lujambio (and potential campaign rival) posted on his Twitter account: "Peña Nieto: explain to Mexicans where you got the 23 million pesos to buy clothing in the most expensive store in the world.”

Peña Nieto late this week addressed the controversy multiple times. He said he’d never been to Bijan at 420 Rodeo Drive and called the video a “black campaign.” 

Later, he said such tactics could even threaten the federal government’s relations with state governments and put “at risk institutional relations.” 

Peña Nieto makes an easy target on the personal wealth front. He comes from rather humble stock and has never worked outside government for any significant period. So this scandal feeds the perception of elected officials lining their pockets at the public trough. Moreover, he is from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the former authoritarian party that ruled Mexico as a fiefdom for seven decades.

But imagine for a second that Peña Nieto is right and that he’s never been to the Beverly Hills boutique. Then this augurs for some below-the-belt politicking during the upcoming campaign. Many Mexicans would throw in last weekend’s arrest of Jorge Hank Rhon, the PRIista who is a former Tijuana mayor, as part of election politics. Hank Rhon was charged with firearms violations because soldiers found 88 weapons in his house. With extraordinary speed, prosecutors said Friday ballistics tests show two of those weapons were used in homicides in Baja California. This kind of prosecutorial celerity is uncommon in the extreme in Mexico.

I would expect Peña Nieto’s camp to dish out its own surprises soon. 

You might think that the elections in Peru would shed little light on current events in Mexico. I suggest that they do. And I bet Humberto Moreira, head of Mexico’s PRI, would agree with me. Here’s why.

The solid frontrunner to lead Peru is Ollanta Humala, a leftist former military officer who promises to redistribute wealth. With around 69 percent of the vote counted, Humala has 28.8 percent of the vote while Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, comes in second with 22.6 percent of the vote.

Peru has had an extraordinary last decade on the back of a global commodities boom. It’s rich Andean mines make it the world's top producer of silver, second in zinc, third in copper and tin, fourth in lead, and sixth in gold.

But despite average economic growth of 6 percent a year since 2000, the boom hasn’t trickled down fast enough to the poorer end of the social scale.

The proof of that is that Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a savvy economist and former prime minister who would be most likely to continue the policies that brought sustained growth, is running in third place, fighting for a chance to displace Keiko Fujimori in a runoff with Humala.

I haven’t spent much time in Peru since 2001 when Alejandro Toledo was president. But I distinctly remember the economic debate around poverty, which at the time affected 53 or 54 percent of the populace. 

Remarkably, today Peruvians living in poverty amount to about 30 percent. And that 30 percent is an electoral gold mine for Humala. A lot of people have been lifted from poverty. But many -- too many -- remain left behind.

A few weeks ago, I and other foreign reporters got an invitation to go to a “coffee break” with Humberto Moreira, the newly installed leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled Mexico for seven decades until 2000.

Much against my expectations, I found Moreira to be mesmerizing, very smooth but in a non-unctuous way. Dismiss him at your peril. Here he was in a roomful of foreign journalists, some of whom were old hands and had resided in Mexico when the PRI was all-powerful, presiding over what writer Mario Vargas Llosa called “the perfect dictatorship.”

The questions came quickly.  The tenor was: Why should we believe that the old, corrupt PRI has changed at all? What is different now?

There were questions about the raging war against organized crime and drug cartels. But Moreira kept bringing the talk back to economic issues. And I quickly realized this will be the electoral strategy for the PRI in 2012 presidential elections. Mexico is immersed in terrible drug-related violence. Some 35,000 people have died since late 2006. But when elections come, the PRI will appeal to voters’ pocketbooks.

Here is his argument in a nutshell: More Mexicans live in poverty than ever. Under President Felipe Calderon of the ruling National Action Party, some 10.1 million more Mexicans have fallen into poverty. 

“Every day, 7,014 more Mexicans are poor. Each minute, five more are poor,” he said. Mexico is the only major Latin American nation that over the past decade has not reduced levels of poverty, he added, citing the U.N. Economic Commission on Latin America.

He talked about the eight million young Mexicans of the “ni-ni” generation, who have neither opportunities for schooling nor jobs, and said that addressing their situation was critical to battling organized crime.

The questions kept coming back to PRI’s history of corruption, and the privatization policies in the 1980s and 90s that allowed moguls to obtain parts of the Mexican economy at fire sale prices. Moreira used a skillful turn of phrase to bat away the questions, saying that the PRI of before was “so last century.” Today the PRI is different, he argues.

Whoever is the standard-bearer for the PRI in 2012 is the odds-on favorite to win. Conventional wisdom is that Mexicans are weary of Calderon’s drug war, and will send any candidate packing who doesn’t change strategy and cut the pace of deaths. But Moreira’s focusing on economic issues suggests how powerful those issues are even in a country with grave public security challenges.

You can bet that Humala in Peru would concur with that.