Collapse of Dignity (47 page)

Judge Terríquez reviewed the case and, like his predecessors, ordered the Larrea brothers to present themselves at Mexico City's North Prison. Their deadline was January 18, 2011. But Judge Terríquez also increased the penalty for failure to appear from a fine to a thirty-six-hour arrest, determining that a monetary penalty would do nothing to compel them to appear, given their history. Judge Terríquez did an extraordinary job where Judge Trujillo had failed. Before he announced the summons, he confirmed the addresses of the Larreas' homes and offices, checking driver's license listings and sending judicial requests to the tax authorities, phone companies, electric companies, and the Foreign Relations Department. Grupo México's lawyers and the PGR had both tried to block Larrea's testimony with amparo filings, but Marco had successfully argued against them—this time, there was no way for them to get out of testifying. It finally looked like we were close to having Germán Larrea taken into custody.

January 18 came, but Germán Feliciano Larrea still didn't present himself in court.
La Jornada
faithfully covered his evasion of the court order in an article published on the day of his deadline:

Now that Germán Larrea was subject to arrest and had no further recourse but to show his face before the judge, he realized he had a serious problem. The solution he would employ was characteristically sleazy, but it would give us a golden opportunity to give him a taste of his own medicine.

In January of 2011, shortly after Terríquez issued the arrest warrant
for Larrea, Juan Linares began receiving visits in his Mexico City cell from Marco del Toro's former partner, Juan Rivero Legarreta. We had dismissed Rivero as part of our defense team nearly three years earlier for trying to betray us. In my absence, he'd tried to convince my colleagues to give in to Labor Secretary Lozano's demands, and he even seemed to be priming himself to take over the union from me. He was revealed as a pawn of Alonso Ancira, a man who was using his position as our attorney to his own benefit and to the benefit of his corporate backers.

Now, Rivero had resurfaced, acting in a new role—criminal attorney for Grupo México—and he had an unseemly proposition for Juan Linares. In his visits to Juan's cell, Rivero told our colleague that he could be out of prison within fifteen days—on certain conditions. The lawyer said he had “passed the tray around” and taken up a collection from a group of businessmen, and they were ready to offer him $2 million in
exchange for a declaration from Juan that I had mishandled the Mining Trust after all. Once Juan had betrayed me, he'd be a free, and rich, man.

When Juan called to tell me about the offer, we immediately got in touch with Marco, who suggested that Juan play along with Rivero's game to learn more about what exactly he wanted. He told us that there was only one way Rivero could get Juan out of jail that quickly: his client, Grupo México, had to be able to convince Elías Morales, Miguel Castilleja, and Martín Perales to sign a pardon before the judge. (Of course this was entirely possible; we'd known from the start that these three were pawns of Grupo México.) Since they were the only three parties listed on the criminal complaint, it would be relatively simple.

Juan took Marco's advice and continued meeting with Rivero. As he got more details of the deal, our suspicions were confirmed. Rivero said that Morales and his two accomplices would fully pardon Linares, as they'd been instructed by the companies who'd put together the $2 million bribe: Grupo México, Grupo Peñoles, and Altos Hornos de Mexico.

After a few more meetings, Rivero presented Juan in jail with a contract that would finalize the deal. It stated that Juan was the provider of a vague service—he was to make a contribution that would “bring peace to the mining sector.” Rivero, who is listed on the contract as the party receiving this service, explained to Juan that this phrase referred to his obligation to align with Morales, Castilleja, Perales, Pavón, Zuñiga, and the other traitors and publicly state that I was guilty of misusing the $55 million derived from the Mining Trust. According to the contract, Juan would receive a portion of the $2 million immediately upon his release from prison, while the rest would be disbursed in installments over a two-year period, assuming he joined the others in incriminating me.

Marco del Toro advised Juan to sign it. He knew that because Juan was a victim of bribery and had suffered more than two years of unjust imprisonment, the agreement would clearly be null and void. To successfully get Juan out of jail, we were going to have to fight them on their
level and play along with their dishonest games. When Rivero returned, Juan signed the contract.

A few days later, Rivero made another visit to the North Prison with a different document, this one stating that Juan revoked the appointment of Marco del Toro as his defense attorney and appointed Rivero in his place. Juan signed that too, at the urging of both Marco and me.

One week later, on February 23, 2011, Juan received notice in his cell from Rivero that Morales, Castilleja, and Perales would be filing their pardon later that day. Within a few hours, Rivero arrived at the prison and from there walked to the Twelfth District Court in Criminal Matters of Mexico City, Federal District. There, with an attorney from his law firm, he patiently waited for the arrival of the three traitors who would shortly be nullifying their complaint against Juan. What Rivero didn't realize was that Marco—who was away on a work trip to Quebec—had sent two lawyers from his firm to be there as well. For the time being, Marco's men waited outside the court, hidden from sight.

Soon enough, the parade of cowards began: Morales arrived at the courthouse, then Castilleja, and finally Perales. They met up with Rivero and made their way into the court, where they filed their document before the judge. Juan was now pardoned of his nonexistent crime and subject to immediate release. The group of traitors left the building laughing and celebrating, with Rivero seeming especially jovial.

But as soon as they were in their cars, Marco's colleagues rushed into the courtroom with their own document. This one, already signed by Juan Linares, explained to the judge how Rivero had attempted to bribe him, and described in detail the attorney's efforts on behalf of his corporate client to frame me for fraud. The document also stated that the just-completed pardon was a legal procedure that, once ratified, could not be revoked.

Meanwhile, still in his cell, Juan Linares received a call from a smug-sounding Rivero. The attorney said he was on his way to get him out of jail, and that he had the first payment ready. They would leave together to meet the press, the attorney said, where Juan would proclaim my guilt.

But as soon as Rivero finished speaking, Juan said, “I never want to have anything to do with you, ever again.” With nothing more, he hung up the phone. Just a couple of hours before, Juan had officially reinstated Marco as his defense lawyer.

It was approximately 2:00 a.m. on February 24, 2011, when Linares left the Mexico City North Prison forever. He had been locked up for more than two years, but the judge had upheld the pardon issued by Morales and his accomplices. Just after the procedure was complete, Juan called me, as we had agreed, and I congratulated him effusively. Outside the prison, a large group of fellow miners had gathered to greet him. Juan Linares left prison with his head high, having proven himself loyal to Los Mineros—and the truth—right to the end.

For his part, Rivero had blatantly broken the law, committing the crime of prevarication under Mexican law. An abundance of evidence—letters, documents, official complaints, and statements—proves the misconduct of this lawyer who cynically turned from defending the union to outright attacks upon it.

The ongoing conflict between the Los Mineros, the mining companies
of Mexico, and the country's government has revealed the cowardice and weak character of some—Elías Morales and Carlos Pavón being prime examples—and shown the unflagging loyalty of others. The latter has been the case of Juan Linares, whose commitment to his colleagues helped him bear the dreadful conditions in which he was living for two years, two months, and twenty days in jail. Juan always said that he was willing to spend whatever time was necessary in prison until I was reinstated as general secretary of the union and until this whole conflict was over.

Upon his release, Linares immediately resumed his duties with the Miners' Union, ready to rejoin the struggle for the continued independence of our union. His example stands in contrast to that of many others who have become agents of the ongoing attacks on Los Mineros. With their actions they have demonstrated their cowardice and hypocrisy.
Many of them espouse lofty ideals and claim to respect the workers of Mexico even as they act directly against them. They take bribes from company coffers, which are full of money earned thanks to the sacrifices of the miners. Yet Los Mineros remain thankful for our loyal core, made up of people whose actions back up their ideals and have the courage and commitment to stand up and fight back for justice, respect, and dignity.

No matter how long the storm, the sun always returns to shine through the clouds.

—
KHALIL GIBRAN

The current state of the mining conflict is far from ideal, but in the six
years since it began, we have followed many tragedies and obstacles with hard-won successes. I am proud to have led Los Mineros through this David-and-Goliath struggle against abusive capital, and it heartens me to see so many risking everything to defend their right to dignity, safety, and fair compensation. We have been unbending in our insistence on our members' right to elect their own leaders, without the interference of corporate-backed public officials—and we will not stop until Grupo México and their governmental collaborators are held responsible for Pasta de Conchos. Our fight has taken a toll on each one of the union's members, and several have lost their lives while supporting the cause of their fellow workers—among them Mario Alberto Castillo and Héctor Alvarez Gómez, killed in the attack on Lázaro Cárdenas; Reynaldo Hernández, assassinated at the La Caridad mine in Nacozari; and Juventino Flores Salas, murdered by Carlos Pavón's company-backed gang of traitors at the silver mine in Fresnillo.

The aggression and criminal acts of Grupo México, Grupo Peñoles, Grupo Villacero, and Altos Hornos de México continues up to this day. These corporate entities may be competitors in their field, but they are collaborators against unionism. The situation in Cananea is far from
ideal, though the fight continues, as it does in the mines at Taxco and Sombrerete. July 30, 2012, marked the fifth year of the union's strikes in those three union sections—with no solution offered by the company or the government. They have become the longest and strongest strikes in the history of Mexico. The workers in these sections continue their strike, unbending and united in solidarity with the whole of Los Mineros. They know we have honored our commitment to them with honesty and dignity and that neither the union's executive committee nor I personally will ever abandon them. How could we not be inspired by these heroic miners? Each year, on July 30, we hold rallies across Mexico in support of them. Resolving these strikes and forcing Grupo México to recognize its obligations to its employees is our next priority. Cananea will rise again.

Meanwhile, the failure of the impotent company unions has continued. In the few sections that decided—under duress and threats from the companies and the government—to leave the union, abuses have escalated to an unacceptable level. In 2011, six workers were killed in Grupo Peñoles's silver mine in Fresnillo, where workers are represented by Carlos Pavón's sham of a union. Those deaths brought the total number of fatalities in Peñoles operations to twenty for the year. We still hope to reclaim those sections that were intimidated into voting for these completely impotent unions.

Los Mineros has made great strides on behalf of the workers, the vast majority of which have remained in the organization. First and foremost, our union has not collapsed as its enemies so dearly hoped it would. I have had to lead the union from abroad thanks to the real threat of political persecution, but the members have shown ongoing support for the leaders they elected, knowing that to allow the labor department to dictate the union's head would be disastrous. At each one of the annual national conventions of the Miners' Union since the conflict began, I have been unanimously reelected as general secretary six times so far. The last election occurred in May 2012, and there I was appointed president and general secretary. It's clear proof that the workers of the union acknowledge the lies and slander of the government as what they
are: the maneuvers of a power structure that is terrified of an unshackled labor union.