At times he seemed too close to the old-line politicians.

The country's old-line politicians dislike television and most do remarkably poorly at it.

The task of converting the candidate into an old party member apparently succeeded: old-line populist politicians dominated the first slots on the party's legislative lists.

He was the favorite of many party bosses to succeed President Miguel de la Madrid, and some of those old-line politicians could barely conceal their distaste when Mr. Salinas was nominated instead last October.

It was said that he had too many friends among just the old-line politicians whose jobs the Corpos were so enthusiastically taking.

"The old mayor I knew, the old reformer that I knew, would welcome this and not fall into the familiar pattern of an old-line politician: 'I've got it; you take it away from me.' "

But in many towns and villages we still have the old-line politicians who worked their way up through the party.

The left-leaning Mr. Chávez, survivor of one coup already, is still struggling to keep at bay the big-business groups and old-line politicians who are bent on removing him from office.

Mexican investigators say Mr. Salinas turned to Citibank at the suggestion of Carlos Hank Rhon, a friend and the millionaire son of one of Mexico's most powerful old-line politicians.

The old-line politicians who had formerly smoothed Banker's path were no longer connected with civic affairs.