Former employees and retirees of the now-defunct Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LFC) electric company are receiving substantial pensions, some exceeding $1 million pesos (approximately $55,000 USD) per month, raising questions about financial burdens on the Mexican government. The issue underscores long-standing concerns about privileged retirement benefits within state-owned enterprises.
Approximately 9,000 of the nearly 13,000 LFC workers affiliated with the Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union (SME) currently receive between 200,000 and 436,000 pesos monthly, with these amounts increasing annually due to collective bargaining agreements. These pensions are protected and will not be reduced.
The case of the dissolved electric company serves as an example of privileges and irregularities, with three former LFC executives receiving pensions exceeding 1 million pesos per month and another six receiving over 900,000 pesos, according to lists made public by the Secretariat of Anti-Corruption and Good Government.
Similar high pension payouts also exist within Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), though to a lesser extent. Carlos Arturo Sánchez Magaña, a former advisor coordinator for Pemex between 1979 and 2026, receives 1,107,361 pesos per month, while Salvador Quero García, a former construction and maintenance manager, receives 980,000 pesos monthly.
Pensions within development banks range from 200,000 to 280,000 pesos, but notable exceptions exist. José Ángel Gurría, who served as director of Nacional Financiera (Nafin) from December 14, 1993, to April 19, 1994—less than a year—continues to receive a monthly pension of 120,685 pesos. Carlos Sales Gutiérrez, Nafin’s director from 1997 to 2000, receives 209,580 pesos, and Fernando Villarreal y Puga Colmenares, a former Bancomext deputy general manager linked to the Fobaproa bank bailout, receives 284,940.22 pesos.
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has a payroll of 54,391 base and trust retirees and pensioners, but only 2,199 are former executives earning more than the President of the Republic. The highest payouts go to former leaders of the Single Union of Workers of the Republic of Mexico (Suterm), including José Luis Lupercio, with 451,251 pesos, and Víctor Manuel Carreto, with 433,440 pesos. Hugo Hasael Cruz, a former maritime transport manager, earns 358,122 pesos monthly.
Still, these figures pale in comparison to the LFC pensions. The company, declared extinct by former President Felipe Calderón amid criticism, left a burden of over 28 billion pesos on the national treasury. Seven hundred former mid-level LFC managers receive pensions between 300,000 and over 1 million pesos, which will be reduced to 70,000 pesos under a constitutional reform already approved by the Senate and awaiting a vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
The largest pensions at LFC go to former deputy director Jorge Chapa de la Torre, who receives 1,077,533 pesos, followed by former executives Édgar Velázquez Buitrón and Kenneth Smith Jacobo, who receive 1,037,000 pesos each. Gustavo Adolfo Marrón receives 926,000 pesos, with around twenty others receiving between 700,000 and 800,000 pesos. These individuals also retain major medical insurance benefits.
Even among former LFC base workers, substantial pensions exist, such as Valentín Castellanos, who receives 436,567 pesos. Former SME leaders, including Jorge Sánchez and Rosendo Flores, receive 301,000 and 223,000 pesos respectively. These pensions, secured through the union’s collective bargaining agreement, are also protected from reduction and increase annually. The state also covers additional benefits, including a savings fund with contributions of 11 percent from the retiree and 200 percent more previously provided by Luz y Fuerza, now covered by public funds.
Senator Enrique Inzunza of the Morena party believes a legal and financial audit of the LFC’s dissolution decree is necessary, given actions that “harmed the public treasury.”
