Mexican news outlet Aristegui Noticias accused President Enrique Peña Nieto Sunday of plagiarizing 29 percent of his law school thesis.
The Mexican leader submitted his thesis in 1991 after studying law at the private Panamerican University in Mexico City from 1984 to 1989, according to Aristegui Noticias. Mexican government spokesman Eduardo Sánchez referred to the Mexican news outlet’s findings as cases of “style errors.”
“The graduate Peña Nieto presented this thesis 25 years ago. He met the requirements established by the Panamerican University to become a lawyer,” Sánchez stated in a press release on behalf of the government Sunday.
The president’s media bulldog went on to state, “From the style errors seen such as quotes missing quotation marks or a lack of reference to authors which he had included in his bibliography, it’s two decades and a half later, material of journalistic interest. Criticism and debate are welcome.”
Embattled Peña Nieto is dealing with multiple challenges, including handling the extradition process of El Chapo and attempting to push for education reform, as his administration is plagued by multiple scandals.
The Panama Papers investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists included Mexican businessman Juan Armando Hinojosa. It was revealed in 2014 that Peña Nieto’s wife received a favored loan for a multi-million dollar home from Hinojosa with hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts. Peña Nieto made the unprecedented move of apologizing for the appearance of impropriety in the loan deal, partly due to the Panama Papers.
An August accusation against the Mexican leader’s wife claims has been using a swanky $2.05 million apartment owned by a bidder for major contracts with the Mexican government, in Key Biscayne, Florida for vacation.
Peña Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as PRI, was routed in June regional elections, losing several gubernatorial races and signaling the president’s increasing unpopularity as voters are fed up with corruption in Mexican politics.
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