Mexico's ruling party rebuts 'Birdman' director Inarritu's veiled Oscar jab

Mexico's ruling party, which received a veiled jab from Mexican director Alejandro G. Inarritu during his Oscar acceptance speech, hit back on Monday at the filmmaker's criticism of the government. Inarritu's Birdman won four Oscars, including one for best picture, at Sunday's 87th Academy Awards. As the director accepted his award, he took the opportunity to comment on Mexico's beleaguered government. "I want to dedicate this award to my fellow Mexicans, the ones who live in Mexico," he said before the audience of stars in Los Angeles. "I pray that we can find and build the government that we deserve."

Early on Monday morning, President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) responded to Inarritu's comments via its official Twitter account. "Rather than just deserving it, it's a fact that we're building a better government," the PRI said in a tweet that by early Monday afternoon had 392 retweets. "?Congratulations #GonzalezInarritu."

Pena Nieto has faced a growing crisis since 43 students went missing in September after being intercepted by police who the government says were working with a drug gang that incinerated them. Pena Nieto's credibility took a further hit when he, his wife and his finance minister were implicated in a conflict-of-interest scandal involving government contractors. The economy, meanwhile, has suffered because of a sharp drop in oil prices, which have plunged the peso to a nearly six-year-low as Pena Nieto's popularity has sunk.