British pop sensation Elton John performed for 900 of Mexico's wealthiest people at a concert that drew fervent protest from lawmakers and those the performance was to benefit, local media reported Monday.
The dinner and concert to benefit Mexico's most destitute, organized by first lady Marta Sahagun, had a ticket price of 10,000 dollars, a sum out of reach for most Mexicans, who make an average of 4,400 dollars annually, according to World Bank figures for 1999.
Even the location of the concert, at the Castle of Chapultepec in a strongly nationalist enclave, was the subject of widespread protest.
"This is a historic monument," opposition lawmakers said last week of the castle, built in the 19th century for Emperor Maximillian of Hapsburg and his wife, Carlotta.
Among the elite guests who joined President Vicente Fox and his new wife was the son of Carlos Slim, Mexico's richest man, who boasts a fortune of six billion dollars -- AFP
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