Former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s personal hygiene was at the center of a corruption charge made at Friday’s presidential press conference.
Peña Nieto’s government spent almost 1.3 million pesos on supplies such as perfume, hair gel and razors for just two flights on the presidential plane, President López Obrador revealed.
The president presented infographics that showed that 1.07 million pesos (US $55,000 at today’s exchange rate) was spent on hygiene products for a flight on October 27, 2017, and an additional 216,804 pesos (US $11,100) was spent on supplies for a flight on July 6, 2018.
More than 1,600 razors, 1,247 toothbrush kits, 486 bottles of Caroline Herrera perfume for ladies, 746 bottles of Caroline Herrera cologne for men, 1,265 tubes of hair gel, 1,263 shoe polish sponges and 1,215 sets of nail clippers were among the supplies purchased for the first flight, López Obrador said.
“Look at what happened, just one flight, look at how many razors [were bought] . . .” he said.
For the latter flight, the government bought almost 500 boxes of toilet paper and nearly 400 liters of liquid hand soap.
“There are other things that we’re not presenting out of modesty, the toilet paper is enough already,” López Obrador said.
The president said there are invoices for the purchases but questioned their authenticity.
“It’s very probable that the invoices in these cases are false . . . The [past] government itself set a bad example with the use of false invoices,” López Obrador said, adding that his administration will change the law so that the use of phony invoices is classified as a serious crime.
Asked whether his administration will file formal complaints about the presidential plane purchases, the president responded that it would.
López Obrador said the previous government didn’t disclose the details of the purchases on the grounds that it was information of national security importance, adding “that’s over, there is nothing secret now.
“That’s what this change [of government], this fight is for, to put an end to corruption from top to bottom . . .”
Source: El Financiero (sp), Expansión Política (sp), La Jornada (sp)
