The Mexican radio station Grupo Fórmula sent a letter to the owner of the newspaper Reforma to clarify the sponsorship payments made by presidential candidate and former governor of the state of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, reported the same radio station.
The letter was sent Friday, May 11, after the newspaper Reforma published receipts showing the payment of $2.4 million by Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, to journalists during his tenure as the governor of the state of Mexico from 2005-2011. According to the radio station, these payments were for radio sponsorships, or ads that preceded the comments made by journalist Joaquín López Dóriga on the radio.
One receipt showed that radio journalist Carolina Faure had charged $14,000 for supporting "information and interviews" on her radio show, Reflejos de Mujer. As of yet, neither the radio station nor the presidential candidate has explained these payments, according to the news site Terra.
Journalist Joaquín López Dóriga, TV news anchor with the largest audience in Mexico and who was paid $680,000 for radio comments between 2005 and 2006, read on air the letter sent by the radio station.
The National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry, which represents the interests of the owners of radio and television stations in Mexico, sent another letter to the director of the newspaper Reforma, Alejandro Junco de la Vega, to support its affiliated company, Grupo Fórmula. The letter said the sponsorship ads were clearly identifiable as such by the radio audience, and they were commercially transparent.
Currently, polls suggest Peña Nieto is leading the race for Mexican president, according to CNN Mexico.
