Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto takes office today vowing to bolster Latin America’s second- biggest economy by ending a seven-decade oil monopoly and improving security in a nation wracked by drug violence.The 46-year-old former governor of Mexico state assumed office in a midnight ceremony where the national anthem was played and outgoing President Felipe Calderon handed him a Mexican flag. Pena Nieto will take the formal oath of office today as the first president from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, to lead the country since voters ended the party’s 71-year rule in 2000. He’s then scheduled to give a speech at the National Palace.

via Mexico Oil Monopoly and Drug War Head New President’s Agenda – Bloomberg.