BARRIO ALLEGATIONS UNFOUNDED, FOX SAYS

Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox told major Mexican TV and
newspaper outlets that the recently publicized allegations against
ex-Chihuahua Gov. Francisco Barrio Terrazas were opportunistic,
malicious and without foundation.

Fox, who assumes office Dec. 1, said he has not changed his mind about
naming Barrio to a high-level post in the new Mexican government.

For the third straight day, Juarez newspapers carried front-page
stories about allegations that Barrio took protection money from Amado
Carrillo Fuentes, the former leader of the Juarez drug cartel, while
radio and TV talk shows also continued broadcasting the story.

By Wednesday, the story had reverberated throughout Mexico, with
national dailies and major TV networks joining in from Mexico City.

Barrio denied the allegations Tuesday in full-page newspaper ads, and
he talked Wednesday night by telephone to a Juarez Channel 44 TV
anchor on "Pido La Palabra."

Using newspaper ads is a traditional way for politicians in Mexico to
respond, said Steven Barracca, a political science professor at the
University of Texas at El Paso.

"It's in Barrio's best interest to respond immediately," he said,
adding that dealing directly with the source of the news is the best
policy.

During the past week, the El Paso Times has been unable to reach
Barrio or his spokesman Eloy Morales for comments on the
accusations.

Mexican federal authorities said Barrio does not face any criminal
charges, and the document is part of an extensive, ongoing
investigation.

The El Paso Times published a story Sunday quoting a witness in a
Mexican federal arrest warrant who claimed that Barrio had asked
Carrillo for large quantities of money while he was governor.

Under Carrillo Fuentes, the Juarez drug cartel rose in power and scope
inthe past decade. The new leader is alleged to be Amado's brother,
Vicente Carrillo.

The witness, Tomas Colsa MacGregor, was killed in 1997, four months
after giving his statement to authorities. The 2,433-page document
containing Colsa's statement was not made public until it became part
of an extradition proceeding in El Paso's federal courthouse. The file
arrived this summer and the hearing concluded Sept. 21.

The story grabbed headlines in Mexico because "there are high
expectations on the Fox administration to do well," Barracca said.
"There is hope that people in (his) administration can change things.
The story might have thrown some mud on all that ... irrespective of
whether (the allegations) are true or not."

Marisela Ortega, a correspondent for Norte de Monterrey, said the
story "was relevant because the Fox administration was supposed to
stand for the end of corruption."

"Before Fox was elected president, everyone expected any accusations
of corruption to revolve around members of the Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI), not the National Action Party (PAN)," she
said. "This, plus the fact that Barrio is being considered for a
cabinet-level post that targets corruption meant the story was
important on a national level."

Fox and Barrio are PAN members. Fox is the first non-PRI candidate to
win the presidency in 71 years, and in 1992 Barrio became the first
Panista to be elected governor of Chihuahua.

Ortega said her newspaper carried the Barrio story in Tuesday's
edition, and like many other Mexican news media outlets, quoted the El
Paso Times as a source.

"The El Paso Times was the only one that had the story, that's why
everyone quoted from it, even if it meant giving credit to another
news source," Ortega said.

Juarez's Norte newspaper carried another full-page ad Wednesday,
purchased by businesses in Mexico in support of Barrio's "moral and
human purity." They included Restaurantes Barrigas, Elamex de Mexico
and Grupo Argos.