Mexico, Accountability - understand-culture

The School Year of the Pandemic

In June 2020, with schools closed by the pandemic, Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education changed the rules for the end of the school year. Under Agreement 12/06/20, published in the official gazette on June 5, 2020, a student with whom “it had not been possible to establish communication” received the average of the first two grading periods for the third. The ministry would seek the student’s “continuity to the next grade.”

The rule that required 80 percent attendance for promotion did not apply that year.

The Cannabis Deadline

In February 2019, Mexico’s Supreme Court had found the provisions banning the recreational use of cannabis unconstitutional. It gave Congress a deadline to write a legal framework. Neither the Senate nor the Chamber of Deputies reached a final law within the times the Court set. The last deadline was April 30, 2021.

On June 28, 2021, eight justices of the Supreme Court approved a general declaration of unconstitutionality.

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.

To Give the Face

Dar la cara, “to give the face,” means to show oneself and answer for what one has done. Dar la cara por alguien means to answer for someone else. A person who hides from the consequences no da la cara.

After a defeat or a scandal, the coach or the official is expected to salir a dar la cara, to come out and face the public.

I Ask Your Forgiveness

On July 18, 2016, at the ceremony where he signed the laws of the new National Anticorruption System, President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke about the Casa Blanca, the house that had caused a scandal. “Reconozco que cometí un error que lastimó a mi familia e indignó a la ciudadanía” (I recognize that I made a mistake that hurt my family and angered the public).

He added: “Por eso, con toda humildad, les pido perdón” (For this reason, with all humility, I ask your forgiveness).

The General’s Apology

In April 2016, a video showed the torture of a woman in Ajuchitlán del Progreso, Guerrero, by members of the armed forces and the Federal Police. The Secretary of National Defense, General Salvador Cienfuegos, spoke at Military Camp No. 1 in Mexico City. “Ofrezco una sentida disculpa a toda la sociedad” (I offer a heartfelt apology to all of society), he said, for an “inadmissible” event.

The One Most Responsible

On November 30, 2022, Mexico was eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar. At his press conference, coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said: “Yo soy el responsable máximo de esta terrible decepción y frustración que tenemos” (I am the one most responsible for this terrible disappointment and frustration). He said he took “full responsibility for this great failure.”

He also said that his contract had expired when the referee blew the final whistle.