But American borders stil open and Bush still unscathed…

Mexico’s Fox falls from grace amid corruption probe
Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:49pm EDTBy Pablo Garibian

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Former Mexican President Vicente Fox always delighted in his image as an honest rancher but his reputation is sagging amid a corruption probe and fierce media scrutiny of his flashy cars and lavish lifestyle.

A charismatic figure who electrified Mexico by ending 71 years of corrupt one-party rule at elections in 2000, Fox is now being investigated by a congressional commission after he opened up his renovated ranch in central Mexico to a glossy society magazine.

The San Cristobal ranch, where paint once peeled from the walls, now boasts expensive furniture, remodeled rooms, a swimming pool and immaculately kept grounds with peacocks and deer.

Fox, who left office last December, also came under fire after a newspaper reported that a businessman gave his wife a decked-out Jeep Wrangler as a gift early in his term.

Several newspapers later reported that Fox was driving an expensive Hummer vehicle not registered under his name and which had been “lent” for free by a car firm to the presidential guard.

In a well-publicized humiliation, Fox was last week forced to hand it back after President Felipe Calderon, his successor and former energy minister, ordered an end to such loan deals.

Fox firmly denies any wrongdoing but the revelations have caused a furor in a country where half the population lives on $2 a day or less and tarnished the reputation of a man who promised in 2000 to end the corruption that flowered during 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Protesters pulled down a statue of the former leader this month in the tropical state of Veracruz.

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