By Adrian Florido, KPBS News for Fronteras
SAN DIEGO – The head of Mexico’s most powerful teacher’s union was arrested near Mexico City Tuesday, accused of embezzling millions in union funds to pay for, among other things, a home in San Diego.
Elba Esther Gordillo has led the union since 1989, and in that role has been seen as a kingmaker in Mexican politics because of her ability to mobilize votes.
Suspicions of corruption have trailed her for decades,though, in part because of her use of private jets, her penchant for designer clothes, purses and expensive cars, and the fact that she owns a sprawling home in the tiny San Diego community of Coronado.
A video uploaded to YouTube in 2010 shows union members from Tijuana visiting the home, ringing Gordillo’s buzzer, and asking to speak with her.
GORDILLO: “Esto es una propiedad privada…”
TEACHER: “Lo sabemos, pero tambien sabemos que esta propiedad la compró con nuestros recursos queaportamos.”
GORDILLO: “Muchasgracias, hasta luego.”
She tells the teacher they’re on private property, to which he responds, ‘yes, but it’s property you bought with our dues.’ She thanks him and hangs up.
On Tuesday, Mexican prosecutors said that was in fact what she did. They accuse her of siphoning at least $200 million, possibly much more, from union accounts. They say she bought a second Coronado home, plastic surgery, more than $2 million in purchases at San Diego’s Neiman Marcus store, and private jet travel.
The arrest came the day after President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a major education reform bill that Gordillo had opposed. She was detained at an airport on her way to her union’s annual conference, fueling speculation that the arrest was strategically timed.
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