Enrique Peña Nieto Brussels Scandal: $3000 Hotel Room Is Latest Mexicoleaks Victory

When Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto flies to Brussels on June 9th to negotiate a free trade deal with the European Union, he and around 40 delegation members will spend their 3-day trip in style. Accommodations in an exclusive five-star hotel in the Belgian city will cost almost one million pesos ($65,000), according to leaked documents collected by Mexicoleaks, a website similar to Wikileaks. Nieto’s room, the “Opera Suite,” is reported to cost over 48,000 pesos ($3000) per night.

Americans might not find those numbers shocking. President Barack Obama infamously spent $1.7 million on a 4,000-strong delegation for a conference in Brisbane, Australia, in 2012. Obama’s room cost $2,000. However, the Americans' expenditure were a matter of public record, while Enrique Peña Nieto's apparent extravagance had to be leaked. That may give Mexican voters a double shock... not only is the President of the poor country spending heavy, but he's not being open about it. It’s the latests victory for Mexicoleaks, a new anonymous platform aimed at facilitating information transfers from whistleblowers to the Mexican media. Major collaborators of the Mexico leaks project carried the story, including El Processo and Aristegui Noticias.

Only two weeks ahead of Mexico's mid term elections, headlines touting heavy spending won't help Nieto's party. Nieto is already under fire for corruption charges involving alleged pay-to-play schemes that traded government contracts for favorable mortgages and campaign contributions. Last year, he Neito grabbed headlines for the purchase of a $540 million dollar jet, the most expensive of any head of state with the exception of the U.S. (if only because the American President always travels with two planes).

The full reservation confirmation of Nieto’s visit is available online, in English. Details from the receipt show that 34 of the cheapest rooms were booked for around $400. In addition to the $3,000 Opera Suite (also known as the “Presidential Suite), six medium suits were booked, costing between $550 and $850 apiece. According to reports, the Presidential delegation paid up to 87 percent more than the list price for the suites. The WiFi was free.