Martín Esparza (SME) in the House, "Economist of the Year" and accusations of illicit enrichment

Martín Esparza went to the Chamber of Deputies to demand the creation of a new company to replace the now-extinct Luz y Fuerza, a state company whose business has been taken over by another state company, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Esparza's union has in the past months achieved notoriety by attacking and destroying CFE installations, as well as physically and verbally harassing the state workers of CFE.

In the Chamber, however, Esparza faced direct accusations of "scandalous and offensive" illicit enrichment, in the words of PAN national deputy Ivideliza Reyes who responded to Esparza's intervention:

"We should give Martin Esparza the award of Economist of theYEar, as on a payroll salary of 335.26 pesos per day, or 10057 each month or 122,370 per year, he has a ranch, called Los Encinas, of 37.5 hecaters, located in Juandhó, Hidalgo, that features a charro, stables, horses from Europe, breeding place for roosters, and facilities for parties...

"Martin, how dare you ask your union members to vote for you, how dare you to ask them to re-elect you every time, and how dare you come to this Chamber to demand that they create a new company for you? Why do you continue to enrich yourselff? Why do you keep stealing from Mexico?" 

Ouch. Reyes also claimed Esparza owns two more properties in the exclusive Quinta San Francisco neighborhood.Dirty, baseless accusations or an accurate description of Esparza's patrimonio? Esparza didn't respond directly but alluded to a lawsuit against Reyes. We'll see.