Magazine: Mexico’s Peña Nieto and wife separated in December

Mexican former President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife, actress Angelica Rivera, separated in December, a few days after the end of his six-year term, ?HOLA! magazine reported Thursday.

“Enrique Peña Nieto and Angelica Rivera separated in December. As confirmed to ?HOLA! by sources close to the couple,” the magazine said in an online teaser for its forthcoming issue.

The magazine said that the couple “maintains a cordial relationship.”

Peña Nieto, 52, lives in Mexico with his three children, while the 49-year-old actress, known as “La Gaviota” for a role she played in a telenovela, moved to the United States to be near her children from her first marriage, according to the story.

“The couple separated in December, on the best terms, which is why they decided to go together to the funeral of ex-Gov. Alfredo del Mazo Gonzalez, on Jan. 11,” ?HOLA! said.

The news item appeared online hours after the publication of a photograph showing Peña Nieto with Mexican model Tania Ruiz among a group of people strolling on the streets of Madrid.

Last September, during his final state of the nation address at the National Palace, Peña Nieto warmly praised the first lady, who was sitting in the front row.

Their 2010 nuptials, a second marriage for both bride and groom, captured enormous attention as the union of the then-governor of the state of Mexico and one of the leading telenovela stars.

EFE journalists have spotted Rivera attending theater premieres and other cultural events in Mexico on her own in the months since the end of the Peña Nieto presidency.

In late 2014, a scandal erupted over Rivera’s ownership of a mansion in the Mexican capital’s upscale Lomas de Chapultepec district.

The house, worth an estimated $7 million, was built between 2010 and 2012 by Grupo Higa, which was the recipient of several public works contracts during Peña Nieto’s tenure as governor of Mexico state.

Rivera purchased the Casa Blanca (white house) property with money she earned during her successful career as a soap opera actress, government spokesman Eduardo Sanchez said in November 2014.

The then-first lady ultimately sold the residence.

Peña Nieto, who fathered two children out of wedlock during his first marriage, has long had the reputation of being a lady’s man.