Nov. 19, 2006, 2:11AM
Ranks of the rich grow in Mexico
Wealth gap shows few signs of closing despite leader's promises
By JEREMY SCHWARTZ
Cox News Service
MEXICO CITY — Their bodyguards aren't allowed inside Le Cluv, Mexico City's most exclusive nightclub. But the fabulously wealthy patrons who make it past the doorman don't need to worry; a team of retired military officers handles security in the nightspot.
Once inside, 20- and 30-somethings drink $300 bottles of rum, lounge on leather sofas and watch flat-screen TVs inlaid in the club's marble pillars.
"The people that come here travel a lot to Europe, to exclusive places in the United States," said Carlos Granados, owner of Le Cluv. "So you have to give them something even better than what they're used to seeing. Here you're like, 'Am I in Mexico, or where am I?' "
While poor migrants grab most of the headlines from Mexico, the ranks of the country's rich are growing at a rapid and largely unnoticed pace.
According to the British market research firm Datamonitor, the number of Mexicans with more than $384,000 in liquid assets will jump 50 percent between 2004 and 2009, from 50,000 to 75,000 in this country of 107 million.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4344880.html