‘Barbie’ doll candidate with star quality leads Mexican presidential race

Meet Enriqué Peña Nieto, 45, candidate for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled Mexico for 71 years before losing power in 2000, and clear front-runner in the forthcoming 1 July presidential elections.

Known as “The Governor” by his fans, Mr Peña Nieto ran Mexico state – which includes the capital – from 2005 to 2011.

He is famous for inaugurating public works every week in office, walking among the people on local visits, and asking them what they needed. Before leaving, he would take out his pen, sign their wishlist and always deliver on his “commitments”.

His good looks and colourful personal history provide a fresh face for PRI, a party infamous for corruption, ballot rigging, bribing journalists and the killing of democracy protesters before the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

In 2007, Mr Peña Nieto returned home one evening to find his wife ill in bed. Hours later she died of seizure-induced arrhythmia. He became a celebrated bachelor, before falling for and marrying TV soap opera star Angelica Rivera, known as “Seagull” after a former role as a peasant girl who falls for a landed aristocrat.

Mr Peña Nieto promises to bring prosperity to millions of Mexicans living in poverty despite Mexico being the world’s 12th largest economy. And he vows to end the drugs war that has left more than 50,000 dead since 2006 when president Felipe Calderón unleashed the army against the cartels, a decision Mr Peña Nieto describes as “rushed and poorly planned”.

Critics accuse him of being a media-friendly façade for the old PRI, having spent his career as a party activist – dubbing him a “male Barbie” and pointing out his inability last year to name three books that had influenced him. They add that he is too vague on how he plans to fight the powerful drug cartels, except for possibly reaching a non-aggression pact, as the PRI has done in the past.

But he seems unruffled. “The PRI has been misunderstood for years, it’s more remembered for its past mistakes than its many achievements,” he told The Scotsman. “We have a top, competitive team with experience and know-how. We’re the only ones with a plan for this country.”

A recent El Universal poll put him nearly 14 points ahead of left-wing former Mexico City mayor and 2006 runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (37.8 per cent to 23.9 per cent). Meanwhile, Josefina Vazquez Mota, the ruling National Action Party (PAN) candidate, is trailing in third place with 22.4 per cent.

Mr Obrador, however, is closing the gap by portraying Mr Peña Nieto as a puppet.

The most vocal critics belong to the YoSoy132 [I am 132] student movement, named after 131 students who protested last month against Mr Peña Nieto and who later came forward amid claims they had been put up to booing and heckling him at Mexico City’s wealthy Iberoamericana University.

Back at the BlackBerry Auditorium, no-one seemed too concerned. “Peña Nieto will win, no doubt about that,” said Jose Garcia, a 21-year-old student.