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Wife of Mexican President to Sell Mansion Mexican Leader Offers Asset Disclosure
(about 17 hours later)
MEXICO CITY — The wife of President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico said on Tuesday that she would give up her opulent new home in one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods. MEXICO CITY — President Enrique Peña Nieto said Wednesday that he would disclose details of his assets, a day after his wife promised to give up an opulent new home in one of this city’s most expensive neighborhoods.
A growing scandal over the home and its financing is threatening to further undermine Mr. Peña Nieto, who is already under fire over the disappearance of 43 students at a rural college in September. Mr. Peña Nieto’s announcement appeared to be an attempt to quiet the scandal that has been simmering over the house since its existence was first revealed 10 days ago. The flap has threatened to undermine his presidency while he is trying to contain the political fallout from the disappearance of 43 students at a rural college in September.
In a videotaped statement, Mexico’s first lady, Angélica Rivera, a former soap opera star, described how she had financed the purchase of the home. She said she earned $10 million in 2010, the year her contract with the Mexican television network Televisa ended, more than twice what she agreed to pay for the property two years later. Huge demonstrations in honor of the students were scheduled here and in a number of state capitals on Thursday, the 104th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Instead of observing the traditional parade from the National Palace, Mr. Peña Nieto plans to watch it at a military parade ground while students, unions and other groups rally at different points around the city to protest.
“I don’t want this to continue to be a pretext to offend and defame my family,” Ms. Rivera said in the statement, which was first broadcast on Televisa’s nightly newscast. “Today, I am here to defend my integrity, that of my children and of my husband.” Two years after taking office, Mr. Peña Nieto is facing the most difficult period of his presidency so far, with criticism mounting that the government is unwilling to rein in corruption. He acknowledged those concerns obliquely on Wednesday as he made his announcement.
But Ms. Rivera failed to address a possible conflict of interest that is at the center of the criticism. She signed a contract to buy the 15,000-square-foot house from a subsidiary of a company that won multimillion-dollar contracts from the State of Mexico, the populous state surrounding the capital, while Mr. Peña Nieto was its governor. “In the spirit of really gaining society’s confidence, I have decided to make my entire asset declaration public, make it open and leave it to the scrutiny of Mexican society,” he said at an antipoverty event.
Another subsidiary of the company, Grupo Higa, was part of a Chinese-led consortium that won an uncontested bid this month to build a $3.7 billion high-speed rail line. But Mr. Peña Nieto abruptly canceled the contract on Nov. 6, three days after the project was announced, after opposition politicians raised questions about the deal. On Tuesday night, Mexico’s first lady, Angélica Rivera, a former soap opera star, attempted to put to rest suspicions about how she had financed the purchase of her sumptuous home. She said she earned $10 million in 2010, the year her contract with the Mexican television network Televisa ended — more than enough to pay for the property.
Ms. Rivera, her voice rich with indignation, said that she had met Grupo Higa’s owner, Juan Armando Hinojosa, “just as I have met many other business people, professionals, artists and other people.” “I don’t want this to continue to be a pretext to offend and defame my family,” Ms. Rivera said in a videotaped statement. “Today, I am here to defend my integrity, that of my children and of my husband.”
Yet Ms. Rivera failed to address a possible conflict of interest at the center of the criticism. She signed a contract to buy the 15,000-square-foot house from a subsidiary of a company that won multimillion-dollar contracts from the State of Mexico, the populous state surrounding the capital, while Mr. Peña Nieto was its governor.
Another subsidiary of the company, Grupo Higa, was part of a Chinese-led consortium that won an uncontested bid this month to build a $3.7 billion high-speed rail line. But Mr. Peña Nieto abruptly canceled the contract on Nov. 6, three days after the project was announced, after opposition politicians raised questions.
Ms. Rivera, her voice rich with indignation, said she had met Grupo Higa’s owner, Juan Armando Hinojosa, “just as I have met many other business people, professionals, artists and other people.”
By revealing her income and making public the contract, Ms. Rivera sought to quell suspicions that she had benefited from a favorable deal with a government contractor.By revealing her income and making public the contract, Ms. Rivera sought to quell suspicions that she had benefited from a favorable deal with a government contractor.
Ms. Rivera said that Mr. Hinojosa’s company first acquired the property in 2009 and began construction in 2010 according to her specifications. By then she was engaged to Mr. Peña Nieto. Ms. Rivera said Mr. Hinojosa’s company first acquired the property in 2009 and began construction in 2010 according to her specifications. By then she was engaged to Mr. Peña Nieto.
She signed a purchase agreement in January 2012, after the couple had married and when Mr. Peña Nieto was running for president. Under the contract, Ms. Rivera agreed to buy the house for about $4 million over eight years, at 9 percent interest. She has paid almost 30 percent of the price and said she would sell her rights to the purchase.She signed a purchase agreement in January 2012, after the couple had married and when Mr. Peña Nieto was running for president. Under the contract, Ms. Rivera agreed to buy the house for about $4 million over eight years, at 9 percent interest. She has paid almost 30 percent of the price and said she would sell her rights to the purchase.
The existence of the house, which was first reported on Nov. 9 by Carmen Aristegui, a prominent journalist, came as Mr. Peña Nieto faces a crisis over the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers’ college. Mauricio Merino, an analyst at CIDE, a Mexico City policy institute, said the country was entering a “crisis of public confidence” over an accumulation of events set off by the horror over the missing students.
According to the government’s investigation, the students were arrested by police officers in the town of Iguala, in the southwestern state of Guerrero, and handed over to the local drug gang on the orders of the mayor, José Luis Abarca, on the night of Sept. 26.According to the government’s investigation, the students were arrested by police officers in the town of Iguala, in the southwestern state of Guerrero, and handed over to the local drug gang on the orders of the mayor, José Luis Abarca, on the night of Sept. 26.
The government says the mayor and his wife, María de los Ángeles Pineda Villa, who have both since been arrested, worked closely with the local gang, Guerreros Unidos. Investigators say they believe the students were killed that night and their bodies burned. But the students’ families have refused to believe the government’s version, and daily protests, led by demonstrators bearing pictures of the missing, are a reminder of the government’s failure to improve security and its inability to tackle corruption.
Investigators say they believe that the students were killed that night and that their bodies were burned to ashes. But the families of the students have refused to believe the government’s version and daily protests, led by demonstrators bearing pictures of the missing, are a steady reminder of the government’s failure to improve security and its inability to tackle corruption. “The government’s reaction has been very slow and not convincing,” Mr. Merino said. “It has not modified the map of this crisis. It is reacted, but it has not made proposals.”
Against the backdrop of Iguala, the pictures of Ms. Rivera’s sleek white house, with swimming pool, elevator, and recessed blue, orange and magenta lighting, became an irritant.
Earlier Tuesday, Mr. Peña Nieto defended his wife, promising that she would explain how she had acquired the property.
“I will not allow this issue, this allegation, to place in doubt the confidence that the majority of Mexicans have placed in me,” he said.