Enrique Peña Nieto, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) nominee for president of Mexico and the man most likely to be elected on July 1, engaged in a bit of preemptive damage control recently. During an interview with Mexico City's influential El Universal, he fairly rolled around in the mud, tattling on himself enough to satisfy even the tabloids.
Peña Nieto's first marriage was to the late Mónica Pretelini Sáenz, with whom he had three children. Pretelini died suddenly on Jan. 11, 2007, during what is officially listed as an epileptic episode. There are rumors . . . but no, I'm not going there, at least not now.
The candidate told El Universal that during the marriage, which had "highs and lows" (hard to believe, isn't it?), he had affairs with two women, both of whom bore him children. Either Peña Nieto is a good Catholic, or he needs to enroll in Fundamentals of Birth Control.
One of the out-of-wedlock children died from a congenital illness at about a year of age (just three weeks after Pretelini Sáenz). The other is seven, and lives with his mother. Peña Nieto claims that he helps support the child, but admits that he has had very little contact with him.
Meanwhile, the intrepid PRIsta got busy and found himself otra mujer (another woman) - the soap opera star Angélica Rivera - whom he married Nov. 27, 2010, in a splashy Mexican City wedding attended by the Rich and Famous. A Roman Catholic service presented no problem for Peña Nieto, since he was a widower. As for Ms. Rivera, she managed to procure a church annulment from her first husband of five years, with whom she had produced three children. That paved the way for a nice liturgical ceremony.
If you're keeping track, the candidate and his present wife have produced a combined eight children, involving four different women. Flow chart it for clarity if you're confused.
Peña Nieto denied "any responsibility" for the death of first wife Pretelini, and said that "medical reports" would back him up. He also claims she knew all about the two affairs, which actually "brought them closer together." Of course it did, Enrique, of course it did.
Despite his past, the PRI candidate says that he has turned over a new leaf, and is now "devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus." That should give us all a great degree of comfort if and when Peña Nieto assumes Mexico's highest office later this year.
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