MEXICANS SELECTING NEW GOVERNORS

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) Despite the ritz and glitter of Cancun, most
residents of the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo live in poverty
something they hope will begin to change after Sunday's governorship
elections.

Voters in Quintana Roo and the central state of Hidalgo will choose
governors, state congressmen and mayors in races where the ruling
Institutional Revolutionary party hopes to beat back challenges by
opposition groups one year before the 2000 presidential vote.

While the ruling party holds a strong lead in Hidalgo, the race is much
closer in Quintana Roo in part because of the stark contrast between
tourist wealth and wages about $40 a week for the average hotel worker, a
bit above the minimum of $25 a week and because of the poor image of
outgoing Gov. Mario Villanueva.

Federal police are investigating Villanueva for alleged links to drug
traffickers, and political opponents accuse him of authoritarian rule over
the last six years.

Joaquin Hendricks Diaz, the ruling party's candidate for governor, admits
the state has a serious problem with drug-traffickers who bring South
American cocaine to the coast, and then transport it across Mexico to the
United States.

"There have been public servants who have become corrupt and participated
in drug-trafficking, and that has motivated the traffickers to focus on
Quintana Roo," Hendricks said. Still, Hendricks invited Villanueva to his
closing campaign rally, and has said he will not join in the "witch hunt"
against the outgoing governor.

Hendricks, a former army officer, is running about even with his nearest
rival in the governor's race, Gaston Alegre of the Democratic Revolution
Party. In a January poll, Hendricks had 36.4 percent of support to Alegre's
33.3 percent. The poll by Alduncin and Associates had a margin of error is
4.5 percent.

Hendricks implies that his military background is a guarantee of his
rectitude, and has campaigned on a platform of developing industries beyond
tourism "to end the backwardness we have suffered since the time of our
ancestors."

Still, many fear that Hendricks would continue Villanueva's heavy-handed
style, which has included personally doling out favors like taxi permits,
selling off or concessioning public beaches to well-heeled private
investors and allegedly intimidating opponents.

"The residents of this state are tired of the constant abuse of authority
under Mario Villanueva," said Francisco Lope Mena, candidate for the
conservative National Action Party, who came third in the January poll with
about 30 percent of voter preferences.

One resident, like Fernando Gomez, a street vendor in Chetumal near the
Belize border, hopes a close race might in itself signal that change is
near.

"For a long time we have always voted for the PRI. There were hardly any
other parties," he said. "But the only way that things are going to change
is with another party."