ACCUSED

Mexican Union Leader Arrested

Considered country’s “most powerful woman.”

Mexico union leader Elba Esther Gordillo, who has been called the country’s “most powerful woman,” was arrested on Wednesday on allegations that she embezzled $156 million from union funds. Gordillo is the head of the 1.5 million-member Mexican teachers’ union, SNTE, and has been dogged by rumors of fraud for years, although this is the first time charges have been brought against her. Gordillo is being accused of “systematic embezzlement” of union accounts between 2008 and 2012, and of using the money for property, trips to the U.S., and plastic surgery. Gordillo’s wealthy union has led the fight against Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s education reforms, which SNTE has claimed will lead to massive layoffs and the privatization of education.