After a seven-month silence, former president Enrique Peña Nieto reappeared on social media on Wednesday but not to refute the corruption allegations that have been made against him.
The ex-president instead offered condolences to his successor, whose 56-year-old sister passed away this morning.
“I express my heartfelt condolences to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his family for the passing of Professor Candelaria Beatriz López Obrador. Rest in peace,” Peña Nieto wrote on Twitter.
It was just the third tweet this year from the ex-president who left office just under two years ago and vanished from public life.
On April 15 Peña Nieto offered his condolences after the death of former México state governor Ignacio Pichardo Pagaza and he did the same on April 1 after his communications and transportation minister, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, passed away.
Before those tweets, the former president’s most recent social media remark was in June last year when he rejected a newspaper report that claimed that he was under investigation by United States authorities in relation to a bribery case involving the state oil company Pemex.
In more recent times, Peña Nieto has remained silent on social media despite the arrest – and subsequent release – of his defense minister, Salvador Cienfuegos, on drug trafficking charges, and the publication of details of a document in which the federal Attorney General’s Office alleges that he led and personally benefited from a criminal scheme within his government that paid bribes to lawmakers and committed treason.
It appears that the 54-year-old ex-president, who reportedly lives in an exclusive residential area near Madrid, Spain, is more focused on his love life than speaking online about the scandals that plagued his 2012-2018 presidency.
Peña Nieto announced on Facebook in May 2019 that his marriage to actress and singer Angélica Rivera had “legally concluded.” He is now in a relationship with 33-year-old Mexican model Tania Ruiz.
Ruiz, who is much more active on social media than her partner, took to Instagram last week to show that all is well in her relationship with the erstwhile leader.
In the “stories” section of her account, she posted a series of photos accompanied by phrases such as “Forever and ever!! My Love!!” and “Loving you today and if God wishes always.”
Some of the photos showed Ruiz’s hand – with a ring on her middle finger – clasping what is believed to be the hand of Peña Nieto. It appeared that an engagement announcement could be imminent but in her last “story,” Ruiz said that a wedding was not about to happen.
“I’m not getting married, I’m just very happy. I love my boyfriend!!” she wrote.
Her romantic posts may have been an attempt to cheer up Peña Nieto – they were published the same day as the Attorney General’s Office’s allegations against him were made public.
Despite accusations of wrongdoing, the former president is not currently sought by Mexican authorities but that could change should a majority of citizens vote in favor of putting ex-presidents on trial at a referendum planned for next year.
Source: Reforma (sp), El Financiero (sp), El Universal (sp)
