Mexico, Accountability, Late Bad News

Saying No Without Saying No

In 2019, BBC Mundo asked Mexican scholars why it is hard for Mexicans to say no. Alí Albarrán of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM said: “Decir que no a alguien que te está ofreciendo algo de buena voluntad es considerado una ofensa” (Saying no to someone who offers something in good will is considered an offense). The anthropologist Roger Bartra said that “it is not very polite to say no openly.”

The article describes the common solution: “para no decir no, dicen que sí, pero no ponen un plazo” (to avoid saying no, they say yes, but they set no date).

Leaving a Good Impression

Quedar bien, “to come out well,” means to leave a good impression and keep things pleasant. Mexican Spanish has many phrases that serve it.

Sí, cómo no: “Yes, of course.”

Primero Dios: “God first,” meaning “God willing.”

Ahí lo vemos: “We will see about it.”

Ahí nos vemos: “See you there.”

Each can be a firm promise. Each can also be a kind way to leave a request open.

I Have Other Data

On January 16, 2019, President López Obrador was asked about a Bank of America report on Mexico’s growth. He answered: “Yo tengo otros datos” (I have other data). The magazine Expansión included the line in its list of 50 phrases from his first 50 days in office.

Reserves on Time

On December 20, 1994, in the words of the magazine Expansión, several problems that Mexico had carried since the start of the decade “came together.” Reserves were low. The crisis that followed became known as the efecto tequila, the tequila effect.

The Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF later wrote that the crisis showed the importance of the “timely provision” of key information on international reserves. On April 16, 1996, in the aftermath of the Mexican crisis, it approved the Special Data Dissemination Standard.