Pemex union leadership candidates slam old guard rival ahead of vote

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The Pemex logo is pictured during the launch of a new franchise and business strategy by Pemex, in Mexico City, Mexico November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

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MEXICO CITY, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Candidates promising to upend the culture in Mexico’s huge oil workers’ union went on a rampage on Monday against a leadership rival seen by some as a remnant of that which they described as his troubled past, just days ahead of a key vote.

Some 90,000 workers at national oil company Pemex are eligible to vote on January 31 in the first direct election in the powerful union’s 86-year history, mandated by a recent labor reform that aims to let workers choose their representation and break the grip of entrenched unions.

Two candidates who spoke at a press conference slammed candidate Ricardo Aldana, the union’s current treasurer, for carrying on the legacy of former union leader Carlos Romero Deschamps, who resigned in 2019 after the president said he was under investigation for using illicit funds.

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“These projects are camouflaged to continue the corruption of Carlos Romero Deschamps,” said rival candidate Maria Cristina Alonso, referring to Aldana. “How dare they try to represent us?

Fellow candidate Daniel Aranda accused former union leaders of being more interested in enriching themselves than protecting workers, and suggested that Aldana may have diverted funds to help the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Aldana and Romero Deschamps are both veteran politicians of the PRI, which ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century.

“It was all theft, looting… They live in lavish houses, houses with yachts, even with airplanes or helicopters,” Aranda said.

Both spoke alongside Aldana at a press conference hosted by Mexico’s labor minister, which sought to highlight the 25 candidates vying for the union’s top job.

Five hopefuls spoke on Monday, while the other candidates will do so later this week.

Aldana, who spoke first, said he hoped to improve workers’ quality of life, increase productivity and implement accountability and transparency measures.

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Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sandra Maler

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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