MEXICAN TYCOON DENIES ALLEGATIONS

MEXICO CITY (AP) One of Mexico's most powerful ruling party members denied
new allegations Wednesday linking him and two sons to drug trafficking and
money laundering.

A U.S. intelligence report described billionaire Carlos Hank Gonzalez and
his sons as "a significant criminal threat to the United States," The
Washington Post and Mexico City daily El Financiero reported this week.

The report was compiled by the National Drug Intelligence Center and drew
from information from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the
Customs Service, the CIA, Interpol and others, The Washington Post reported.

Hank Gonzalez, one of the most prominent members of Mexico's ruling class,
said through spokesman Carlos Arguelles that the allegations "are totally
false, and the accusations are ridiculous because they are completely
unfounded."

Questions have been raised before about Hank Gonzalez. In October, the
Paris-based Geopolitical Drugs Watch said Hank Gonzalez was suspected of
money laundering and drug trafficking. It said he "is untouchable and will
probably remain so, in the United States and Mexico."

A prominent member of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party that
has ruled Mexico for 70 years, Hank Gonzalez was once an elementary school
teacher who sold candy to supplement his meager income.

Beginning a political career in the mid-50s as mayor of Toluca in central
Mexico, Hank Gonzalez quickly rose to become one of Mexico's richest
businessmen, even as he spent most of his career holding public office.

Hank Gonzalez has served as congressman, governor of the central state of
Mexico, Mexico City mayor, and secretary of the tourism and agriculture
ministries. He has been retired from politics since 1994.

He is perhaps best known for having said that "a politician who is poor is a
poor politician." The comment has become one of the most-repeated sayings in
Mexican politics.