De Foxilandia a Disneylandia

(Reuters. Anaheim, California. EUA. 8 de Agosto de 2007. Reforma)

ANAHEIM. El ex Presidente Vicente Fox, junto con su esposa Marta Sahagún y sus cuatro nietos, visitó el parque de diversiones de Disneylandia,en Anaheim, California, donde en compañía del personaje de Mickey Mouse firmó el tradicional libro de invitados que incluye la rúbrica de siete ex presidentes de Estados Unidos.

"I don't put anything in my pockets, I take it out"

GALLOS. El candidato a la gubernatura de Baja California, Jorge Hank, y la aspirante al gobierno yucateco, Ivonne Ortega, recibieron el espaldarazode su nueva lideresa nacional. Los acompaña el Gobernador del Estado de México, Enrique Peña Nieto.

(© Rodrigo Ramos. México. 5 de Marzo de 2007. Reforma)

...Jorge Hank Rhon brags about drinking tequila mixed with bear bile and steeped with the penises of tigers, lions and dogs. He has weathered allegations of ties to drug trafficking, money laundering and murder-for-hire.

But none of that seemed to matter to his supporters as the self-proclaimed billionaire dog-track owner and Tijuana mayor closed his campaign for governor of Mexico's Baja California state this week.

Most polls give a slight advantage to his main opponent, Jose Guadalupe Osuna, 51, of President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, whose gubernatorial victory 18 years ago in Baja was the beginning of the end for the Institutional Revolutionary Party's 71-year hold on the presidency.

But Hank Rhon -- who keeps a private zoo with 20,000 animals, five times more than the famous San Diego Zoo across the border -- loves a good fight, and has overcome much bigger obstacles. The son of a PRI party boss, he overcame a double-digit deficit in the opinion polls to become Tijuana's mayor three years ago, despite claiming during the campaign that "women" were his favorite animals.

He brushes aside accusations of corruption, saying his opponents just want to "promote chaos, distrust, fear and uncertainty, so that we won't vote."...

...Hank Rhon, the father of 19 children with several different women, says he is too rich to be corrupt...

"I don't put anything in my pockets -- I take it out,'' he said. ''I have a
really big business ... and with that money I support myself, my wife, my kids and grandkids."

...Mr. Hank has become fabulously wealthy — he recently estimated his net worth at more than $1 billion — with a dog track in Tijuana and a string of betting parlors across Mexico known as Caliente. All require government permits, and he acquired the franchises by wielding his political influence with several past presidents.

“I don’t hide anything,” he said. “I live happily.”

Mr. Hank’s wealth is one of the attractions for his fans in this state of 2.8 million people. “Look, everyone who’s become governor has ended up robbing the public coffers,” said Mario Alberto Hermosillo Álvarez, a 38-year-old security guard in Tijuana. “This man has got money to spare. He makes money in his sleep.”...

...Mr. Hank rolled from stop to stop in his campaign bus, wearing a red leather vest of crocodile skin with H7 (for Hank in 2007) emblazoned on the back, his gold watch and key fob shining and a cigarette dangling from his mouth...

Extracted from "Colorful Tijuana Mayor in Mexico Race" By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS & "In Mexico, Rebel Politician Courts the Law-and-Order Vote" By By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. Published: August 2, 2007 @ NYTimes.com