Seven Newsworthy Heads of State and Why No Libertarian Could Admire Them

3. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

Some libertarians might find something to like about German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany is, by European standards, more fiscally conservative than fellow member states of the European Union, and some libertarians may admire her stance on immigrant refugees.  These things aside, her government’s foreign intelligence service, BND, complied with the US National Security Agency to spy on European companies, institutions and individuals. Libertarians don’t like it when our government does it, or anyone else’s.

4. Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico

Peña Nieto is Mexico’s exceptionally unpopular president.  This past month several thousand demonstrators took to the streets in protest on Mexico’s Independence Day demanding that he resign. Some may link this to his unexpected meeting with Donald Trump, but he lost the faith of the Mexican people long before that.    Peña Nieto has seen the murder rate in Mexico rise to its highest level during his administration, with 57,000 murders since he took office in 2012.  He has been involved in many scandals, including the disappearance of 43 college students in Guerrero State where his wife was to give a speech, and most recently allegations have surfaced of police raping 11 women during a crackdown on demonstrators when he was governor of Mexico State. He is hardly a world leader any libertarian can admire.