Former Mexican governor arrested for embezzlement

MEXICO CITY: A former governor of the poverty-stricken Mexican state of Chiapas was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stealing funds meant to rebuild the state after it was hit by hurricane Stan in 2005.

Pablo Salazar, who was governor of the southern Chiapas state from 2000 to 2006, was arrested at Cancun airport, Juan Hernandez, deputy attorney general for the state of Quintana Roo, which includes the seaside resort of Cancun.

After his arrest, Salazar was sent to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, where state prosecutors accuse him of embezzlement and criminal conspiracy, Hernandez said.

Salazar was affiliated with the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, although he became governor with support from a wide alliance of political parties.

His arrest follows that this weekend of former Tijuana mayor Jorge Hank Rhon who was arrested on Saturday after the army found a large weapons cache in his home. Hank Rhon was also linked to the PRI.

Copyright Reuters, 2011