University: Mexican president copied texts in thesis

MEXICO CITY – The university that granted Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto a law degree in 1991 has acknowledged he copied texts and ideas without crediting their authors in his thesis.

The PanAmerican University said Sunday that Pena Nieto’s failure to properly credit texts included in his thesis did not violate university rules in force at the time.

The university’s statement did not use the word “plagiarism,” but did say his thesis included “textual reproductions of fragments (of other works) without footnotes or mentions in the bibliography.”

It said he did attribute other quotes and material, although sometimes in a vague manner.

The university suggested that rules had become tighter, but noted “our university’s general rules do not apply to ex-students” and said “this is an old case which cannot be subject to any action.”

The news site Aristegui Noticias reported last week that 29 per cent of Pena Nieto’s thesis was material lifted from other works, including 20 paragraphs copied word-for-word from a book written by former President Miguel de la Madrid.