墨西哥新官上任三把火:老师被抓了

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

潘尼亚政府逮捕一位大咖的工会领导人，要开始全力肃贪了吗？

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.

出自全球价码最高的设计师Elba Esther Gordillo（如图）之手的高跟鞋和手提包璀灿亮眼，这位墨西哥最大教师工会的领导人，从未公开自己累积财富的秘密。墨西哥百姓早就想知道她如何能以一份公务员薪水维持其奢华的生活风格。二月廿六日，联邦检察官宣布他们认为找到了答案︰被控侵吞工会经费二十亿披索（相当于一亿五千九百万美元）。喜欢外界称她为「老师」（la Maestra）的Elba Esther Gordillo，在墨西哥城郊区的飞机场被捕。

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.

司法部长Jesús Murillo Karam表示，Elba Esther Gordillo和其他两名工会官员曾经花了很多前购买设计师成衣、艺术品、房地产和整容手术。部分资金在用来购买位于圣地亚哥的房子之前，已经被挪移至位于瑞士和列支敦士登两地以Elba Esther Gordillo母亲名字登记的公司。检察官表示，这可能还不是这起诈骗案的全部。「老师」本人还未发表意见，但她的工会同事已经站出来替她辩护，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，看起来似乎是一场墨西哥新总统潘尼亚经过精心计算的实力展现。发生的时间恰好就在他签署教育改革法后的隔天，该法意图让学校控制权摆脱工会的掌握。而且可能正要传递一个更明显的讯息给那些炫耀自己有权无责的领导人。

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曾经领导一百五十万成员的教师工会长达廿三年，经历了五任总统。去年十月，她在没有对手挑战下再次连任另一个六年任期。她已经带给墨西哥教育不良的影响，利用身为工会代表的法令规定掌控教师聘雇和晋升，以及藉由不透明的账户支付教师薪水。Elba Esther Gordillo曾是潘尼亚隶属的革命体制党（PRI）幕后金主之一，但在该党丧失政权后见风转舵，2006年她（和工会）转向支持卡德隆（Felipe Calderón），卡德隆当年代表保守派的国家行动党赢得总统大选。她也建立了自己的政治队伍，麻雀虽小，但有时候却可以左右选举的结果。

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.

潘尼亚政府已经承诺，从今以后教师职务不再标价出售或家族继承。未通过评鉴的教师将面临开除。工会已经筹划游行反对这些提议。Elba Esther Gordillo被捕下台是否会平息这些抗议并不明确。

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「老师」重演了1989年逮捕石油工会领导人Joaquín Hernández Galicia的过程，当时距离萨莱纳斯（Carlos Salinas）就职总统不到六周（Joaquín Hernández Galicia当年未支持选情告急的萨莱纳斯)。这两次逮捕案都是总统权力的展现，以及开启自由主义经济改革的序曲。部分潘尼亚的贴身助理曾经追随萨莱纳斯。

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当年速审速决判行发监。这次要给Elba Esther Gordillo定罪可能搜证比较困难。现在墨西哥是个民主国家，与萨莱纳斯执政时代不同︰法官立场更独立；立场偏颇的法官可能受到总统身旁亲信的左右。近年来，几个重大案件皆因缺乏证据或程序出错而不了了之。

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会是谁呢？墨西哥媒体上最近出现报导，现任石油工会理事长Carlos Romero Deschamps买了一台限量版法拉利跑车送给儿子当作礼物。但身为新科当选的PRI党籍参议员，Carlos Romero Deschamps——没有任何违法不利于他的事证——目前的处境比Elba Esther Gordillo更稳固。政府稍早的公告显示墙上关于「老师」的文字（她的同志被排除在教育部晋升名单之外），反而表明国营石油业的剧变不会如某些人冀望的一样激烈。

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.

虽然如此，Elba Esther Gordillo身败名裂可能有助于潘尼亚反驳外界过去PRI长期执政直到2000年开枝散叶的既得利益让他躲在保温箱内的批评。（去年总统大选得票居次的左派候选人Andrés Manuel López Obrador，曾预测潘尼亚会任命Elba Esther Gordillo出任教育部长。）如同萨莱纳斯打压Joaquín Hernández Galicia一样，逮捕行动至少传递了政府重视部分建议改革的讯息。这可能引起国内电信和媒体大亨的注意，他们正面对一项在电话、网络和电视业引进更多竞争的新法。

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的案件必须坚持。假若结果不幸失败，可能只会鼓励墨西哥其他实际上的势力抬头。萨莱纳斯路线（Salinismo）采取民主方式面对第一个试验，潘尼亚政府在某些方面也采取类似作法。