La Quina’s Downfall

In Mexico, where powerful labor unions and official corruption are both key elements of the nation’s political system, few union leaders were as powerful as Joaquin Hernandez Galicia, better known by his nickname La Quina, and none were considered as corrupt or as violent. Many Mexian political analysts likened his hold on the naion’s oil workers’ union to the control that gangster Al Capone once wielded over Chicago.

A long-simmering dispute between Hernandez and the six-week-old government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari burst into gunfire on Tuesday when Mexican troops stormed the union leader’s home and engaged in a firefight with his bodyguards before arresting him. Authorities said that they confiscated hundreds of weapons in the raid, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition. Hernandez and other union officials were charged with having smuggled the arms into the country; they also face murder charges in connection with the death of a federal agent who was shot during the raid. A government spokesman said that the raid was “a matter of national security” because Hernandez planned to use the weapons to seize control of refineries and other oil-industry facilities, paralyzing Mexico’s most important industry.

If the government’s allegations are true, then its fierce response is understandable. But there are sure to be many people in Mexico who will wonder if Hernandez and his powerful union (110,000 members and assets estimated at $1 billion) were not the victims of a set-up. The fact that Hernandez’ union had weapons at its disposal has long been known. La Quina and his henchmen were famous for the gangland-style methods that they used to enforce union discipline and eliminate opponents. But, as long as Hernandez remained loyal to the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), no one in government seemed to worry much about La Quina’s violent reputation or his corruption.

Hernandez may have helped bring about his own downfall by pressuring the new government once too often. The union leader had tried to prevent Salinas’ nomination as the PRI’s presidential candidate. Then, rather than close ranks with other union leaders behind the PRI nominee, Hernandez allowed officials of the oil workers’ union to criticize Salinas during his campaign. Only last Sunday, Hernandez threatened to shut down Mexico’s oil industry if Salinas moved forward with plans to privatize parts of Mexico’s government-run oil company, Pemex. He also threatened to revive allegations that political allies of the new president were involved in Pemex corruption. So it may turn out that La Quina’s weapons cache was just a pretext that allowed the government to move against him--much as U.S. authorities once used the income-tax laws to come down on Capone.