During an interview with '' PBS NewsHour '' as president-elect , Peña Nieto said that Mexico – along with Latin America and the United States – should have a debate about drug legalization and the regulation of drug sales in the country , an approach advocated by some Latin American leaders who want to reduce the revenues of the drug trafficking organizations by legalizing marijuana . He insisted , however that he is not in favor of legalizing narcotics , but is in favor of opening a new debate to fight drug trafficking . According to Peña Nieto , the War on Drugs has not provided positive results because it has not reduced drug consumption nor drug trafficking , which means that the policy is " not moving in the right direction . " Peña Nieto also spoke with Fareed Zakaria in an airing interview through CNN where he called for a " new debate " on the drug war , saying the U.S. should play a major role in the discussion and stating : By arguing that the legalization debate should be discussed , Peña Nieto is echoing that Mexico is prepared to move in the direction that several leaders in Latin America have openly debated . During the 6th Summit of the Americas on April 2012 , for the first time , many leaders in the Latin American world debated at the summit – although behind closed doors – whether they should stop following the " U.S.-sponsored-and-dictated " War on Drugs , partially legalize drugs , or regulate the drug trade . According to '' The Huffington Post '' , the debate reached President Barack Obama , but coverage of the debate by the U.S. media was lessened because of competition from an embarrassing sex scandal involving the U.S. Secret Service and some prostitutes . Nevertheless , the message from the Latin America leaders was clear : " they no longer accept the American line on drug policy . " Peña Nieto wants to expand Mexico 's drug war partnership with the United States , but discarded the presence of armed U.S. agents in Mexico . Moreover , the president-elect supported hosting U.S military training on Mexican soil , but only for training purposes and to help the Mexican Armed Forces benefit from the U.S. counterinsurgency tactics learned in the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan . He also approved the continuation of flights by U.S. surveillance drones to gather information on drug trafficking , but stated that further missions would be handled by the Mexican authorities with assistance and technology from the United States . Moreover , the incorporation of the former Colombian police general Óscar Naranjo signals that Peña Nieto will be a solid partner with the U.S. , since Naranjo is close to the U.S. military and law-enforcement agencies
6th Summit of the Americas
6th Summit of the Americas
Security policy of the Enrique Peña Nieto administration