Carlos Antonio Romero Deschamps, former leader of the Oil Workers Union of the Mexican Republic (STPRM), died yesterday at the age of 79, union sources confirmed.
Born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, he led the union for 26 years and negotiated with five presidents of the Republic.
One of the most controversial cases in which he was involved was Pemexgate, which involved the diversion of millions of dollars in the group's resources to the presidential candidacy of PRI member Francisco Labastida in 2000.
In 2003, the then Attorney General's Office exonerated him of embezzlement and electoral embezzlement.
Since then, he has succeeded Joaquín Hernández Galicia La Quina, who was imprisoned during the six-year term of Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
In December 2017, he announced his reelection term would expire in 2024. However, in 2019, he resigned from the top position at the STPRM, although he refused to retire and continued to receive his salary. It wasn't until March 2021 that he voluntarily ceased to be an active worker, the federal government announced.
Under the PRI banner, Romero Deschamps accumulated three federal deputyships and two senatorial positions during his political career.
