MEXICAN POLITICIANS FACE PROBE

MEXICO CITY (AP) In a striking turn, once mighty members of Mexico's
freewheeling elite are finding themselves under investigation for
fraud, corruption and even murder.

Men in top business and political positions were allowed in the past
to flee abroad until things cooled off at home, but international
pressure to clean up Mexico's drug mess has prosecutors cracking down.

The targets, however, are also firing back, waging vocal public
campaigns to portray themselves as victims of government persecution
and corrupt police.

After long shunning publicity, they now file human rights complaints
against prosecutors, stage protest rallies and call journalists at
home begging for them to write articles about their alleged plight.

And with the reputation for corruption that dogs Mexico's law
enforcement, many Mexicans are ready to believe that members of the
ruling class that long enjoyed government favors are now the victims.

Conspiracy charges are increasing as more of Mexico's elite feel legal
heat for the first time. The victims of "government witch hunts" are
many: a state governor, the brother of a former president, a
presidential candidate, a top banker.

Raul Salinas, brother of former President Carlos Salinas, claims he
was railroaded by his family's political enemies in his conviction for
the 1994 murder of a rival. He accused the judge of fabricating charges.

"We have been made ... political hostages," he said during an appeals
hearing last week.

Gov. Mario Villanueva, meanwhile, was questioned last week by
prosecutors about allegations of drug smuggling in his Caribbean coast
state, Quintana Roo.

Villanueva claims the accusations are part of a political campaign to
punish him for supporting old-guard presidential candidate Manuel Bartlett.

Bartlett, in turn, contends political motives are behind allegations
he participated in the 1985 torture-killing of a U.S. narcotics agent.

Also last week, Carlos Cabal Peniche, a banker who fled to Australia
after being charged in a $700 million fraud case, said from a Sydney
jail cell that he is a victim of political persecution because he
didn't give President Ernesto Zedillo enough support during his 1994
campaign. He also claimed he is being made the fall guy for Mexico's
banking crisis.

After decades of bungled cases, preferential treatment for
well-connected suspects and corruption in law enforcement, the image
of prosecutors is so tarnished that many Mexicans are receptive to
conspiracy theories.

Hundreds of supporters cheered Villanueva when he emerged from the
questioning session in the state capital, Chetumal.

A cartoon published by a Mexico City newspaper summed up the public's
feelings. It shows a man reading two newspaper headlines:

"'Prosecutors say governor involved in drug trafficking.' That could
very well be true," he says. "'Governor accuses prosecutors of making
false accusations.' That could very well be true."