Juarez residents respond to Mexican president on cover of US magazine

The man making the cover of Time Magazine’s soon-to-be released issue is Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. The headline reads: “Saving Mexico.”
Just as the president’s political legislation has been controversial with Mexican citizens — so is the cover.
“No, he is not the savior of Mexico,” Juarez resident Jennifer Ruiz said. “He’s made this country go down. Way down.”
The magazine article praises the president’s effort to pass legislation which reopened the country’s state-run oil industry for the first time in nearly 80 years.
At the same time, some of Mexico’s most violent spots, such as Juarez, have become much safer. Though others have not. The Mexican state of Michoacan has been overrun with cartel and vigilante violence in the past several months.
The article states that critics are calling this time, one year after Pena Nieto was elected to office, as “Mexico’s moment.”
“I believe the conditions are very favorable for Mexico to grow,” Pea Nieto told TIME in an interview at the Los Pinos compound. “I’m very optimistic.”
Time’s article has received an overwhelmingly negative response from south of the border.
Online bloggers and commentators have taken to photoshopping the image of Pena Nieto on the cover of Time, making him appear as Our Lady of Guadalupe or Santa Muerte.
The streets of Juarez are once again safe for the most part, though neighbors were reluctant to talk on camera with ABC-7.
None of the citizens the ABC-7 crew spoke with on Monday credited the president for the city’s recent economic growth, quality-of-life improvements or increased safety.
Many of them seemed almost offended that the president was to be featured on the magazine’s cover.
“It’s wrong,” Ruiz said. “He doesn’t deserve it.”