墨西哥新官上任三把火:老師被抓了

Enrique Peña Nieto’s government has arrested a powerful union leader. Is this the start of something?

潘尼亞政府逮捕一位大咖的工會領導人，要開始全力肅貪了嗎？

RESPLENDENT in high-heels and handbags from the world’s priciest designers, Elba Esther Gordillo (pictured), the leader of Mexico’s powerful teachers’ union, has never made any secret of her wealth. Mexicans have long wondered how she is able to maintain her lavish lifestyle on a public servant’s salary. On February 26th federal prosecutors announced what they think is the explanation: the alleged embezzlement of 2 billion pesos ($159m) of union funds. Ms Gordillo, who likes to be known as “la Maestra” (“the Teacher”), was arrested at an airport outside Mexico City.

出自全球價碼最高的設計師Elba Esther Gordillo（如圖）之手的高跟鞋和手提包璀燦亮眼，這位墨西哥最大教師工會的領導人，從未公開自己累積財富的祕密。墨西哥百姓早就想知道她如何能以一份公務員薪水維持其奢華的生活風格。二月廿六日，聯邦檢察官宣佈他們認爲找到了答案︰被控侵吞工會經費二十億披索（相當於一億五千九百萬美元）。喜歡外界稱她爲「老師」（la Maestra）的Elba Esther Gordillo，在墨西哥城郊區的飛機場被捕。

Jesús Murillo Karam, the attorney general, said Ms Gordillo and two other union officials had spent the money on designer clothes, art, property and cosmetic surgery. Some of the funds were transferred to companies in Switzerland and Lichtenstein registered in Ms Gordillo’s mother’s name, before being used to buy houses in San Diego. This may not be the full extent of the swindle, prosecutors said. “La Maestra” has not yet commented though her union colleagues have come out in her defence, saying they “believe in” her.

司法部長Jesús Murillo Karam表示，Elba Esther Gordillo和其他兩名工會官員曾經花了很多前購買設計師成衣、藝術品、房地產和整容手術。部分資金在用來購買位於聖地亞哥的房子之前，已經被挪移至位於瑞士和列支敦士登兩地以Elba Esther Gordillo母親名字登記的公司。檢察官表示，這可能還不是這起詐騙案的全部。「老師」本人還未發表意見，但她的工會同事已經站出來替她辯護，表示「完全相信」她。

Her arrest looks like a calculated show of strength by Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s new president. It came the day after he signed into law an education reform designed to prise control of schools from the hands of the union. And it may just be intended to send a broader message to those who flaunt unaccountable power.

逮捕Elba Esther Gordillo，看起來似乎是一場墨西哥新總統潘尼亞經過精心計算的實力展現。發生的時間恰好就在他簽署教育改革法後的隔天，該法意圖讓學校控制權擺脫工會的掌握。而且可能正要傳遞一個更明顯的訊息給那些炫耀自己有權無責的領導人。

Ms Gordillo has led the 1.5m-member teachers’ union for 23 years, spanning five presidencies. In October she was elected unopposed for another six-year term. She has held a baleful influence over education in Mexico, taking advantage of rules which delegate to the union the hiring and promotion of teachers, as well as the payment of their salaries via opaque accounts. Having been a boss of Mr Peña Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), after the party lost power she opportunistically switched her (and the union’s) support in 2006 to Felipe Calderón, who won the presidency for the conservative National Action Party. She set up her own political outfit, which though small has sometimes tipped the balance at elections.

Elba Esther Gordillo曾經領導一百五十萬成員的教師工會長達廿三年，經歷了五任總統。去年十月，她在沒有對手挑戰下再次連任另一個六年任期。她已經帶給墨西哥教育不良的影響，利用身爲工會代表的法令規定掌控教師聘僱和晉升，以及藉由不透明的賬戶支付教師薪水。Elba Esther Gordillo曾是潘尼亞隸屬的革命體制黨（PRI）幕後金主之一，但在該黨喪失政權後見風轉舵，2006年她（和工會）轉向支持卡德隆（Felipe Calderón），卡德隆當年代表保守派的國家行動黨贏得總統大選。她也建立了自己的政治隊伍，麻雀雖小，但有時候卻可以左右選舉的結果。

The government has promised that from now on teachers’ jobs will no longer be for sale, or inherited. Teachers who fail assessments will face the sack. The union has organised marches against the proposals. It is unclear whether the downfall of Ms Gordillo will defuse these protests.

潘尼亞政府已經承諾，從今以後教師職務不再標價出售或家族繼承。未通過評鑑的教師將面臨開除。工會已經籌劃遊行反對這些提議。Elba Esther Gordillo被捕下臺是否會平息這些抗議並不明確。

The arrest of “la Maestra” mirrors that in 1989, six weeks into the presidency of Carlos Salinas, of Joaquín Hernández Galicia”, the head of the oil workers’ union (who had failed to back Mr Salinas’s dodgy election). That was both an exercise of presidential authority, and a prelude to liberal economic reforms. Some of Mr Peña’s close aides have ties to Mr Salinas.

逮捕「老師」重演了1989年逮捕石油工會領導人Joaquín Hernández Galicia的過程，當時距離薩萊納斯（Carlos Salinas）就職總統不到六週（Joaquín Hernández Galicia當年未支持選情告急的薩萊納斯)。這兩次逮捕案都是總統權力的展現，以及開啓自由主義經濟改革的序曲。部分潘尼亞的貼身助理曾經追隨薩萊納斯。

Mr Hernández was promptly locked away. Convicting Ms Gordillo may prove harder. Mexico is now a democracy, unlike under Mr Salinas: judges are more independent; those who are not are biddable by actors besides the president. In recent years lack of evidence or procedural errors have made several big cases collapse.

Joaquín Hernández Galicia當年速審速決判行發監。這次要給Elba Esther Gordillo定罪可能蒐證比較困難。現在墨西哥是個民主國家，與薩萊納斯執政時代不同︰法官立場更獨立；立場偏頗的法官可能受到總統身旁親信的左右。近年來，幾個重大案件皆因缺乏證據或程序出錯而不了了之。

Who might be next for a come-uppance? Reports have recently appeared in the Mexican press of a limited-edition Ferrari bought by Carlos Romero Deschamps, the current leader of the oil workers’ union, as a gift for his son. But as a newly elected PRI senator, Mr Romero—against whom there is no evidence of wrongdoing—is in a stronger position than Ms Gordillo. Whereas the government’s early announcements suggested that the writing was on the wall for “la Maestra” (her allies were passed over for senior jobs at the education ministry), it has indicated that the shake-up of the state-owned oil industry will not be as radical as some had hoped.

下一位被逮捕的可能會是誰呢？墨西哥媒體上最近出現報導，現任石油工會理事長Carlos Romero Deschamps買了一臺限量版法拉利跑車送給兒子當作禮物。但身爲新科當選的PRI黨籍參議員，Carlos Romero Deschamps——沒有任何違法不利於他的事證——目前的處境比Elba Esther Gordillo更穩固。政府稍早的公告顯示牆上關於「老師」的文字（她的同志被排除在教育部晉升名單之外），反而表明國營石油業的劇變不會如某些人冀望的一樣激烈。

Even so, Ms Gordillo’s downfall may help Mr Peña counter criticism that he is too cosy with vested interests that flourished under the PRI’s long rule to 2000. (Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the left-wing runner-up in last year’s election, predicted that Mr Peña would appoint Ms Gordillo as his education secretary.) Like Mr Salinas’s strike against Mr Hernández, the arrest sends a message that the government is serious about some reforms, at least. That may be noted by the country’s telecoms and media barons, who face a law to introduce more competition in telephony, internet and television.

雖然如此，Elba Esther Gordillo身敗名裂可能有助於潘尼亞反駁外界過去PRI長期執政直到2000年開枝散葉的既得利益讓他躲在保溫箱內的批評。（去年總統大選得票居次的左派候選人Andrés Manuel López Obrador，曾預測潘尼亞會任命Elba Esther Gordillo出任教育部長。）如同薩萊納斯打壓Joaquín Hernández Galicia一樣，逮捕行動至少傳遞了政府重視部分建議改革的訊息。這可能引起國內電信和媒體大亨的注意，他們正面對一項在電話、網絡和電視業引進更多競爭的新法。

But first the case against Ms Gordillo must stick. If it falls apart, it may only embolden Mexico’s other de facto powers. Salinismo in democracy, which Mr Peña’s government in some ways resembles, faces its first test.

但是首先指控Elba Esther Gordillo的案件必須堅持。假若結果不幸失敗，可能只會鼓勵墨西哥其他實際上的勢力擡頭。薩萊納斯路線（Salinismo）採取民主方式面對第一個試驗，潘尼亞政府在某些方面也採取類似作法。