HANK, CARLOS GONZALEZ (MEXICO)

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06794094
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: May 16, 2019
• Case Number: F-2018-01761
• Publication Date: May 26, 1993

Approved for Release: 2019/04/19 C06794094
MEXICO
Carlos HANK Gonzalez
HANK
Secretary of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources (since 1990)
Wealthy businessman and political power broker Carlos Hank is one of a handful of
members of President Carlos Salinas's generally young, technocratic Cabinet who belong
to the traditionalist, old-guard wing of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party
(PRI). Although Hank is not a Salinas insider, he was selected for
his post because his considerable influence in the PRI and his wide- ranging business
contacts provide the leverage needed for him to implement agricultural reforms. These
reforms are a critical part of Salinas's economic modernization program. Salinas also
hopes Hank can improve the climate for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
with the United States and Canada. The ambitious, aggressive Hank has long aspired
to high political office, but he is constitutionally prohibited from running for the
presidency because his father was German born
On NAFTA-related agricultural issues, Salinas is almost always the
key decisionmaker, Hank has largely been left to
ensure that key PRI and government leaders support the administration's agricultural
line. On the policy front, Hank has been most active on irrigation and water-rights
issues, particularly in the arid northwestern states, and has met with key officials
in US border states to discuss these questions. He has also actively promoted greater
private-sector participation in agriculture.
Career and Personal Data
Hank was born on 28 August 1927. After graduating from the Normal School of Toluca
in Mexico State, he taught primary and secondary education for several years. He
Approved for Release: 2019/04/19 C06794094
Approved for Release: 2019/04/19 C06794094
later went into business and acquired several enterprises, including trucking and
heavy equipment manufacturing plants and real estate. He has served as mayor of Toluca
(1955-57), federal deputy from Mexico State (1958-61), and assistant manager of sales
(1961-64) and director (1964-65) of CONASUPO, the government agency that controls
the price and distribution of basic commodities. He was Governor of Mexico State
(1969-75) before being named mayor of Mexico City in 1976. He returned to the private
sector in 1982, where he worked until his appointment as Secretary of Tourism in December
1988. He held that post until assuming his current duties
Hank does not speak English.
former Maria Guadeloupe Rohn, he has six children.
Married to the
LDA M 93-12539
05/26/1993
Approved for Release: 2019/04/19 C06794094