Mexico's incoming president eyes security shake-up

Mexican president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto unveiled plans Wednesday for a government shake-up, in a bid to combat rampant corruption and reduce violence plaguing the country. Pena Nieto, who takes power on December 1, proposed the creation of an "impartial" anti-corruption agency. He also would hand vast security powers to the interior ministry, placing the federal police, border control and prisons under its umbrella. The aim is to "improve domestic security, a sensitive issue in our society today, and bring back peace and calm to the Mexican people," Pena Nieto told legislators from his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). President Felipe Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops in 2006 to crack down on drug cartels, but violence has soared since then, in a gang turf war that has left more than 60,000 people dead. During the campaign, Pena Nieto vowed to shift the focus on reducing the wave of murders, kidnappings and extortion tormenting Mexicans. The federal police have been under the command of the public safety ministry, but the force has faced a series of embarrassing incidents, including the shooting of a US embassy car by a group of officers in August. The reform proposed by the president-elect would reduce the number of ministries from 18 to 16. Meanwhile, Pena Nieto -- who will travel to Washington on November 27 -- said he congratulated US President Barack Obama on his re-election during a telephone conversation. "We agreed on the importance of building close institutional and personal ties for the good of our countries," Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter. "We agreed to expand the bilateral agenda and discuss it during my visit to the United States."