President sends state-of-the-nation report in less favorable circumstances

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto sent his written state-of-the-nation report to Congress on Tuesday in circumstances far different from what he faced during his last report on Sept. 2, 2014, just after he had won passage of a series of energy, education and telecom reforms, a success he said would put Mexico on the path to greater growth.

At the time, Peña Nieto was delivering on his main pledge, which was to reduce Mexico's drug-war-era violence. But progress there seems to have stalled. Homicides in the first seven months of 2015 were running about 3 percent above figures for the same period last year. And the Mexican peso has fallen 29 percent against the U.S. dollar over the last year. Tough international market conditions may limit his maneuvering room, and officials have lowered this year's expectation for economic growth.

Also, the administration suffered a major embarrassment on July 11, with the escape of Mexico's top drug lord, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, through a tunnel from Mexico's highest-security prison. Peña Nieto announced changes in his cabinet last week in an apparent attempt to change direction.

Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong delivered the report to the legislative body Tuesday, but for the first time in recent history the government did not make the report available publicly the day before the president's address.