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Word: barraged (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1983-1983
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Usage:

...scandal came to the surface in August, when Salvador Barragán Camacho, leader of the powerful Oil Workers' Union of the Mexican Republic, accused fellow Union Executive Héctor García Hernandez (alias El Trampas, the trickster) of stealing some $6.6 million in union funds. The overweight, droopy-eyed García promptly sold most of his Mexican assets, then crossed the border to his $250,000 town house in McAllen, Texas. There, García fired off a letter to President De la Madrid accusing Barragán and the alleged behind-the-scenes "godfather...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Mexico: Oil Union Blues | 10/10/1983 | See Source »

...life, probably with good reason. The day after his jailing, another union boss, Oscar Torres Pancardo, was killed in a mysterious crash. In an apparent attempt to disguise the circumstances, his bodyguards fatally shot Torres' driver in the head. At a rare press conference, the perspiring Barragán nervously endorsed a government inquiry into the Torres death. Barragán then charged that he was the intended victim of a murder plot hatched by none other than Garcia...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Mexico: Oil Union Blues | 10/10/1983 | See Source »

Last week Federal District Judge Jorge Reyes Tayabas announced that both Barragán and La Quina will be questioned about García's accusations. But despite public disapproval, genuine reform is unlikely. The 133,000-member oilworkers' union is reputed to be as powerful as it is corrupt. The union is guaranteed 100% of all Pemex construction contracts, plus 40% of all drilling contracts, and even takes a cut on projects completed by other workers. Although some of the union's profits are channeled into workers' programs such as farming cooperatives, union leaders apparently...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Mexico: Oil Union Blues | 10/10/1983 | See Source »

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