Article 87 of the Mexican Constitution sets the words with which the president takes office. The oath begins: “Protesto guardar y hacer guardar la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y las leyes que de ella emanen.” It ends: “y si así no lo hiciere que la Nación me lo demande.” “And if I should not do so, may the Nation demand it of me.”
I Sign It and I Keep It
During his 2012 presidential campaign, Enrique Peña Nieto signed his campaign commitments before a notary. The slogan was Te lo firmo y te lo cumplo, “I sign it for you and I keep it for you.” There were 266 commitments, 210 of them on infrastructure.
How many were kept is disputed. In December 2017, Forbes México reported a count by the business federation Coparmex: 166 commitments were unfulfilled. A commissioner of the transparency institute INAI said that only 93 of 263 had been met.
Bound as One Wished to Be Bound
Article 78 of Mexico’s Commercial Code reads: “En las convenciones mercantiles cada uno se obliga en la manera y términos que aparezca que quiso obligarse, sin que la validez del acto comercial dependa de la observancia de formalidades o requisitos determinados.” In commercial agreements, each party is bound in the manner and on the terms in which it appears it wished to be bound, and the validity of the act does not depend on particular formalities or requirements.
Article 1832 of the Federal Civil Code applies the same principle to civil contracts, except where the law expressly requires a particular form.
Fulfilling the Manda
A manda is a promise made to the Virgin or to a saint in return for a favor. On December 12, 2024, the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, pilgrims came to the Basilica in Mexico City to fulfill their mandas, some on their knees. Jesús Lucas crawled about a kilometer with an image on his back. His promise was linked to overcoming his addictions.
The television news service N+ also reported, citing the Catholic publication Desde la Fe, that the Virgin does not punish a manda left unfulfilled, and that it can be adapted with the help of a priest.
The Promise to a Dying Mother
Juan Rulfo’s novel Pedro Páramo (1955) begins with a promise. Juan Preciado travels to Comala to find his father, Pedro Páramo, because he promised his dying mother that he would.
Godfather Mendoza
In Fernando de Fuentes’s film El compadre Mendoza (1934), Rosalío Mendoza is a landowner during the Revolution. He swaps the portraits of Huerta and Zapata as the Revolution shifts. He makes a Zapatista leader the godfather of his son, and so his compadre. Under pressure, he betrays him.
In 1994, the magazine Somos ranked the film third among the 100 best Mexican films.
The Plan of Ayala
On November 28, 1911, Emiliano Zapata’s movement issued the Plan of Ayala against President Francisco I. Madero. Its first article accuses Madero of trying to evade “el cumplimiento de las promesas que hizo á la nación en el Plan de San Luis Potosí,” the promises he had made to the nation in the Plan of San Luis Potosí. It calls him a “traidor á la Patria,” a traitor to the homeland.
Pledge to the Flag
At school flag ceremonies, Mexican students recite the pledge to the flag: “Bandera de México, legado de nuestros héroes, símbolo de la unidad de nuestros padres y de nuestros hermanos. Te prometemos ser siempre fieles a los principios de libertad y de justicia que hacen de nuestra Patria una nación independiente, humana y generosa a la que entregamos nuestra existencia.”
“Flag of Mexico, legacy of our heroes, symbol of the unity of our parents and of our brothers and sisters. We promise to be always faithful to the principles of liberty and justice that make our homeland an independent, humane and generous nation, to which we give our existence.”
I’ll Get Tired, Goose
Me canso ganso, “I’ll get tired, goose,” is a playful rhyming way to say that something will certainly be done. According to México Desconocido, the comic actor Tin Tan popularized it in the film Niño perdido (1947).
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador used it for a promise: “me canso ganso, estará funcionando el Nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional de México,” the new international airport of Mexico will be operating.
A Promise Is a Debt
Te doy mi palabra, “I give you my word.”
Palabra de honor, “word of honor.”
Lo prometido es deuda, “what is promised is a debt.”
Del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho, “from saying to doing is a long way.” The Ministry of Public Education uses the saying as the title of a school lesson on sayings.