A prominent labour lawyer in Mexico’s borderlands has been arrested on accusations of inciting violence – a move family members and colleagues denounced as retribution for advising wildcat strikers at US-owned factories.

Susana Prieto Terrazas filmed her own arrest in the city of Matamoros on Monday. “I knew that sooner or later the state governor would do this. I am being arrested,” she said as she was confronted by officers.

She was transported to the state capital, Ciudad Victoria – 320km south-east of Matamoros – and was ordered detained on Wednesday morning. Prosecutors said she was arrested on charges of inciting riot, threats and coercion of public officials.

“We think this is an attempt to get her out of the picture,” said Fernanda Peña Prieto, the lawyer’s daughter. “They’re trying to fabricate false evidence, saying that my mother was the mastermind of whatever violence workers may have committed.”

A fiery speaker with a fondness for sarcasm and a shock of dyed red hair, Prieto has made many enemies by representing workers fighting for higher salaries and trying to organise independent unions at maquiladoras – largely foreign-owned factories that manufacture products for export...