Mexico, Credibility, Loyalty - understand-culture

The Wells of Baján

On March 21, 1811, at Acatita de Baján in Coahuila, the royalist officer Ignacio Elizondo captured Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende and other insurgent leaders. He had pretended that he wanted to join them. In his own report, he describes a reception “con apariencia de un recibimiento obsequioso” (with the appearance of an obliging welcome).

The historical calendar of Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission reads: “Allende fue traicionado por el teniente coronel Ignacio Elizondo en Acatita de Baján, Coahuila” (Allende was betrayed by Lieutenant Colonel Ignacio Elizondo at Acatita de Baján, Coahuila).

Chinameca

In 1919, Jesús Guajardo pretended to break with General Pablo González in order to win the trust of Emiliano Zapata. México Desconocido writes that he gained it “con visitas, pláticas y pruebas de colaboración” (with visits, talks and proofs of collaboration). On April 10, 1919, Zapata came to the gate of the Hacienda de Chinameca, in Morelos, and was shot.

According to México Desconocido, Guajardo received “50 mil pesos en monedas de oro” (50,000 pesos in gold coins).

Smuggling and Betrayal

Contrabando y traición, “smuggling and betrayal,” is the title song of a Los Tigres del Norte album, written by Ángel González. Sopitas dates the album to 1974, and Posta to 1973. The song tells of Emilio Varela and Camelia la Texana, a smuggling couple. Emilio wants to leave Camelia for his true love in San Francisco. Feeling betrayed, Camelia kills him and flees with the money.

Sopitas calls it one of the most important songs of the group’s career, a song that gave “un nuevo auge a los corridos mexicanos” (a new boom to Mexican corridos).

Justice and Grace

A los amigos, justicia y gracia. “For friends, justice and grace.”

A los enemigos, la ley a secas. “For enemies, the law and nothing more.”

Some Mexican columnists attribute the phrase to Benito Juárez. In Forbes México, one columnist calls it “probablemente apócrifo” (probably apocryphal). No source found names its real author.

Malinchismo

Malinchismo takes its name from La Malinche, the interpreter of Hernán Cortés. The Diccionario del español de México defines it as the inclination “a preferir lo extranjero o al extranjero” (to prefer what is foreign, or the foreigner).

BBC Mundo writes of La Malinche: “En el imaginario colectivo de México, aún hoy es vista como la mayor traidora de la historia del país” (In Mexico’s collective imagination, she is still seen today as the greatest traitor in the country’s history).

Grasshopper Politicians

In Mexican politics, a chapulín, a grasshopper, is a politician who jumps from one post or party to another. Uno TV cites the historical dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy for the verb chapulinear: “abandonar un puesto por otro” (to leave one post for another). It describes chapulines as politicians who “cambian su militancia de un partido a otro” (change their membership from one party to another).

The Usurper

Victoriano Huerta was a general of the federal army. He formed the federal División del Norte in Torreón and defeated the rebels of Pascual Orozco at Conejos, Rellano, La Cruz and Bachimba. In February 1913, during the Decena Trágica, he betrayed President Francisco I. Madero and removed him. On February 19, Huerta was installed as president. Madero and Vice President José María Pino Suárez were killed on February 22.

Huerta became known as el usurpador, the usurper. The encyclopedia Biografías y Vidas writes that he prepared “la traición que le ha hecho pasar a la historia” (the betrayal for which he has gone down in history).

From Chivas to América

In January 2024, “Chicote” Calderón moved from Chivas, the club of Guadalajara, to its great rival, América. On March 16, 2024, he returned to the Estadio Akron for the Clásico Nacional. ESPN noted that “hace solo tres meses defendía los colores del Rebaño Sagrado” (only three months ago he defended the colors of the Sacred Flock), as Chivas is known.

The fans “abuchearon al jugador en cada balón que tocó” (booed the player every time he touched the ball). When he was substituted, they threw cups and other objects at him. The match ended 0-0.

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.

Blind Loyalty

On September 24, 2020, after Jaime Cárdenas resigned as head of the Indep, the institute that sells seized assets, President López Obrador said: “Pedimos lealtad a ciegas al proyecto de transformación, porque el pueblo nos eligió para eso.” “We ask for blind loyalty to the project of transformation, because the people elected us for that.” He said that the loyalty was owed to the project, not to him. Cárdenas had said that his loyalty was reflective, not blind.

In February 2026, Expansión reported that Julio Scherer, in his book Ni venganza ni perdón, describes López Obrador’s formula for appointments: “colaboradores con 90% de lealtad y 10% de capacidad,” collaborators with 90 percent loyalty and 10 percent ability.