Carlos Hank González
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Carlos Hank González (1927–2001), nicknamed El Profesor ("the teacher"), was a Mexican politician. He served as the (unelected) mayor of Mexico City from 1975 to 1982, governor of his native State of México from 1969 to 1975, and, during the administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, as Secretary of Tourism from 1988 to 1990 and minister of agriculture from 1990 to 1994.
He was considered one of the leaders of the old guard wing of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). As mayor of Mexico City, he built the Eje Central and other projects designed to make the city more car-friendly, which had a negative effect on the liveability and physical fabric of Mexico City. He was known, like many Mexican politicians, for amassing a fortune while in office through personal businesses and alleged corruption. He became a millionaire .
Constitutionally barred from running for the Mexican presidency by a provision then in force which excluded those with a foreign-born parent from holding the office (his father was German) he played a major behind the scenes role in the PRI and in the workings of Mexico and was regarded by many as a symbol of Mexico's political corruption.
In 1999, Hank and his son, businessman Jorge Hank Rhon, were linked to drug trafficking in a report by the United States National Drug Intelligence Center but the charges were never proved. The French Geopolitical Drugs Observatory and the government of Costa Rica had previously made these accusations.
He was considered to be a leading luminary of the Grupo Atlacomulco, which he insisted did not exist.
[edit] Quotation
- "A politician who is poor, is a poor politician."
