Mexico education trade union leader arrested
Elba Esther Gordillo, General Secretary of the biggest education union in Mexico, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE), is alleged to have misused more than USD 156 million from trade union funds from 2008-2012. SNTE was an EI affiliate until 2009, when it was suspended for failing to pay membership dues.
Gordillo has faced numerous allegations of fraud in the past but was never prosecuted. She has been accused of using the money to shop at luxury stores, buy apartments and private airplanes and undergo plastic surgery.
"We are looking at a case in which the funds of education workers have been illegally misused, for the benefit of several people, among them Elba Esther Gordillo," Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam stated. Up to now, no-one from her legal team has responded to the allegations.
The so-called “la maestra” (the teacher) is one of the highest-profile figures in Mexican political life and has led the SNTE for more than 20 years. Her arrest comes a day after Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, signed into law a major education reform which Ms Gordillo and SNTE were strongly opposed to.
