From the Washington Post:
Luxurious presidential house draws Mexican press scrutiny
House allegedly used by President Enrique Peña Nieto and his family in Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. (Courtesy of Aristegui Noticias)
By Joshua Partlow November 9, 2014
MEXICO CITY — A prominent Mexican journalist published an article Sunday alleging that the registered owner of the Mexican first lady’s house is a company affiliated with a business group that has received lucrative government contracts, including one to build a high-speed train that last week was awarded and then abruptly canceled.
In response to the article, a spokesman for President Enrique Peña Nieto said that the first lady, former actress Angelica Rivera, hired the company, Ingenieria Inmobiliaria del Centro, to acquire the real estate on her behalf and that she has been paying for it.
The alleged conflict of interest comes at a difficult time for Peña Nieto. His government has faced weeks of public outcry over the disappearance and likely deaths of 43 students in the state of Guerrero, at the hands of drug cartel members and corrupt local police.
The cancellation of the train contract also has raised questions about the fairness of the bidding process and whether companies with insider connections were initially benefitting.
The article, published on journalist Carmen Aristegui’s Web site, centered on a white $7 million house of more than 10,000 square feet in the wealthy Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. The spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez, said that on Jan. 12, 2012, Rivera signed a contract with the company to acquire the house because it is adjacent to another property she owned and her intention was to “expand the space of her own house.”
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/luxurious-presidential-house-draws-mexican-press-scrutiny/2014/11/09/33bba1ee-65fd-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_story.html
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Mexico leader faces charge contractor rewarded him with mansion
Source: McClatchy News
Mexico leader faces charge contractor rewarded him with mansion
By Tim Johnson
McClatchy Foreign Staff
November 9, 2014 Updated 27 minutes ago
MEXICO CITY — A Mexican investigative team reported Sunday that President Enrique Pena Nieto and his actress wife possess a posh mansion built to their taste by a company that has grown fat with government contracts.
Pena Nieto has not reported the mansion, worth an estimated $7 million, on his official declaration of assets in the past two years, the team said. The allegation falls on Pena Nieto at a time when he faces lagging support and public outrage over an apparent massacre of 43 students. It may also test his image as a leader who claims to battle corruption and fight for the rule of law.
Known as Casa La Palma, the mansion was built by a subsidiary of Grupo Higa, which has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts under Pena Nieto, according to investigative reporters at aristeguinoticias.com, a news portal led by Carmen Aristegui, a radio and television journalist.
The mansion has an underground parking garage, an elevator, seven bedrooms, marble floors and a special system of recessed mood lighting that changes colors. Two distinctive palm trees jut above its white exterior.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/11/09/4308871_mexico-leader-faces-charge-contractor.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
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Please take a moment to scan images of this unbelievable "house" owned by Enrique Peña Nieto and/or his wife during his Presidency:
https://tinyurl.com/ynscy43c
Another property called "The Other White House":
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