Mexico, Credibility, Rank and Age

The Table of Deans

A new Chamber of Deputies is installed by the Mesa de Decanos, the Table of Deans. Under Article 15 of the Organic Law of the Congress, its members are the deputies-elect “que hayan desempeñado con mayor antigüedad la responsabilidad de legislador federal” (who have served longest as federal legislators).

If two have equal seniority, the one who has belonged to more legislatures comes first. If they are still tied, the older one does. The Table swears in the new legislators and presides over the session that elects the chamber’s first leadership.

Do Not Grumble

Article 11 of the Law of Discipline of the Mexican Army, Air Force and National Guard reads: “El militar se abstendrá de murmurar con motivo de las disposiciones superiores o de las obligaciones” (A soldier shall refrain from grumbling about the orders of superiors or about duties). Article 3 names the bases of military discipline: “la obediencia, y un alto concepto del honor” (obedience and a high concept of honor).

Article 14 sets a limit. It forbids a soldier to give orders whose execution would be a crime.

Served Longer

Article 154 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law lists the workers that employers must prefer when other circumstances are equal. Among them are “quienes les hayan servido satisfactoriamente por mayor tiempo” (those who have served them satisfactorily for a longer time).

The Union Leader

Fidel Velázquez was secretary general of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) for about five decades. Biografías y Vidas states that he held the post “desde 1941 hasta su muerte” (from 1941 until his death). Encyclopedia.com gives two terms instead, from 1940 to 1946 and again from 1950.

He died in June 1997 at the age of 97. The Deseret News, reporting his death, called him “a kingmaker” in the ruling party.

The Council of Elders

In ruling SUP-REC-39/2017, Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal described the system of posts in a Chatino community in Oaxaca, governed by its own customs. “Para pasar de un cargo a otro, los ciudadanos esperan de uno a cuatro años” (To move from one post to the next, citizens wait one to four years). “El cargo confiere prestigio a quien lo cumple” (The post confers prestige on the person who fulfills it).

The posts come before membership in the Consejo de Ancianos, the Council of Elders.

Don and Doña

Don and doña are placed before a first name. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines don as a “tratamiento de respeto que se antepone a los nombres de pila” (a form of respect placed before first names).

In the television comedy El Chavo del 8, two of the adult neighbors are Don Ramón and Doña Florinda.

The Devil Knows More

Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo. “The devil knows more from being old than from being the devil.” The Nueva Escuela Mexicana, the school program of the Ministry of Public Education, includes it in a collection of sayings for students. The magazine Chilango explains that it is about how “la experiencia se encuentra sobre la astucia” (experience stands above cleverness) as a source of wisdom.

With Your Permission, Mr. President

In 1988, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo interpellated President Miguel de la Madrid. El Siglo de Torreón calls the interpellation unprecedented. Muñoz Ledo began with the words “Con su permiso, señor presidente” (With your permission, Mr. President). A member of the PRI tried to hit him to stop him from speaking.

Usted for Elders

“El respeto nos ayuda a vivir en armonía” (Respect helps us live in harmony) is a first-grade lesson of the Ministry of Public Education. It teaches children “frases de cortesía para saludar y despedirse” (courtesy phrases for greeting and saying goodbye). It also explains that “en español, los niños generalmente hablan a las personas mayores de ‘usted'” (in Spanish, children generally address older people as usted).

The One Who Commands

El que manda, manda, y si se equivoca, vuelve a mandar. “The one who commands, commands, and if he makes a mistake, he commands again.” In a 2019 column in Excélsior, the journalist Félix Cortés Camarillo wrote that he learned the saying from a businessman, don Emilio.