Mexican President asked to declare personal assets

(Baonghean.vn)- The Mexican president faced pressure to disclose all of his financial assets on May 29 after a Reuters source said he had incorrectly declared a property on a lakeside plot near Mexico City.

Mexican President Pena Nieto during an investment announcement in Mexico City, May 29 (Source: Reuters).

Opposition lawmakers from the far left and far right have demanded that President Enrique Pena Nieto disclose all of his assets, saying he has single-handedly undermined efforts to fight corruption.

Meanwhile, legal experts and two former government officials in charge of overseeing officials said Pena Nieto's office's assertion that the land was given to him by his father was incorrect, when, according to public registry documents seen by Reuters, he was the sole buyer.

“If he was the buyer, he could not have said it was a gift,” said Elizabeth Yanez, a lawmaker from the center-right opposition National Action Party and a member of the transparency committee in Mexico’s lower house.

“He is distorting the truth,” added Ms. Yanez, who once held one of the most important positions in the Ministry of Public Administration.

An official in the President's office declined to comment on objections to the property's description in official documents.

According to Reuters, Pena Nieto bought a 1,000 square meter plot of land in the city of Valle de Bravo in 1988 from a third party, an asset he declared to authorities as a gift.

Documents obtained by the news agency show that Pena Nieto personally executed the purchase. There is no mention of his late father in the documents.

Under Mexican law, even if his father had given him the money to buy it, he could not claim it as a gift, according to articles 7610 and 7620 of the Mexican Civil Code.

Pena Nieto listed five other properties as gifts from his parents, but did not give details about the locations of these properties.

The country's president has come under pressure in recent months over a series of conflict-of-interest scandals centered on assets he, his wife Angelica Rivera and Finance Minister Luis Videgaray received from government contracts.

“These outrageous acts and the evidence of falsification in his declaration of assets are particularly serious,” said Alejandro Encinas, a left-leaning congressman and former mayor of Mexico City who has demanded that all assets be properly disclosed.

He added that the revelations about the land showed the current presidency was undermining its own commitments to improving transparency.

Mexican officials are not required to publicly explain the source of any money used to buy properties they receive as gifts, but they are required to declare exactly how they acquired the assets.

Enrique Aubry, a congressman from the Green Party, an ally of Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, defended the president, saying the president had shown he wanted to clean up the political system by enacting a new anti-corruption law this week.

Aubry argued that Pena Nieto's enemies were trying to discredit the president ahead of the planned midterm elections on June 7.

Before the report was released on May 28, the President's office refused to answer questions about the discrepancy between his statement about the assets and documents obtained by the press.

Eduardo Sanchez, the president's spokesman, sent Reuters a letter posted on the president's website late Thursday night claiming that Pena Nieto's father bought the land and put it in his name.

Many lawmakers have responded, saying that the assets of all high-ranking officials should be made public. In addition, according to National Action Party lawmaker Laura Rojas, Mexico needs to amend the law to end the president's immunity. "If we don't do that, the number one public figure in the country will still enjoy exceptions," she said.

Thu Giang

(According to Reuters)