Mexico: Consolidating Control Amid Reforms

The controversial and influential leader of Mexico's largest union, Elba Esther Gordillo, was arrested Feb. 26 on charges that she embezzled union funds. While the arrest is notable in its own right, it is indicative of a larger trend under way in Mexican politics: President Enrique Pena Nieto and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, better known by its Spanish acronym PRI, are consolidating support for the more controversial and politically sensitive of their reforms, and elements that refuse to support these issues will either be co-opted or forced out of the political system. Gordillo's arrest shows the PRI's willingness to strategically uncover corruption scandals that challenge those with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. In tackling the most controversial of the proposed upcoming reforms — the tax, telecommunications and energy reforms — the PRI will need to turn inward and extend this process to dissenting elements from within the party.