A sense of growing foreboding in Mexico
The mood in Mexico this week was dark, for two connected reasons. With only days to go before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the next US President, fear and uncertainty over his policies towards Mexico continued to worry the government led by President Enrique Peña Nieto and to exert fierce downward pressure on the Mexican peso. This comes as the country is reeling from the gasolinazo – a sharp increase in petrol prices that led to protests, blockades, looting, and six deaths in different parts of the country. The full political consequences of the new mood may take some time to play out.