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Drug lord's shocking jailbreak clouds Mexican president's visit to France for Bastille Day

Associated Press
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Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto delivers his speech at the French-Mexican Academic and Scientific partnership headquarters in Paris, France, Monday, July 13, 2015. Authorities in Mexico continue their all-out manhunt for drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who officials say escaped Saturday from a maximum security prison. Officials say an opening in the shower area of his cell opened up to a one-mile tunnel. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) (The Associated Press)

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, left shakes hand with French Rector of the Paris Academy Francois Weil, as they attend a meeting at the French-Mexican Academic and Scientific partnership headquarters in Paris, France, Monday, July 13, 2015. Pena Nieto is in France for a four-day visit. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) (The Associated Press)

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, center right, gives a speech, following the escape of drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, at the Mexican Embassy, in Paris, Sunday, July 12, 2015. Mexico mounted an all-out manhunt Sunday for its most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who escaped from a maximum security prison through a 1.5-kilometer (1 mile) tunnel from a small opening in the shower area of his cell, according to the country's top security official. (AP Photo/Milos Krivokapic) (The Associated Press)

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is paying a state visit to France this week amid the shock of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's dramatic escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.

Pena Nieto came to Paris to celebrate Bastille Day — France's most important national event — on Tuesday as French President François Hollande's guest of honor.

The Mexican president spoke Monday at Paris' Latin American Cultural Center and received a medal from the Sorbonne. He will meet Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and participate in a forum with France's largest employers' group, MEDEF.

Aside from the political trouble caused by the jailbreak, the Mexican president will also face protests in Paris by activists who call his government authoritarian and corrupt.