Mexico, Hierarchy, Connections - understand-culture

The Private Secretary

In October 2020, the newspaper Eje Central wrote that Alejandro Esquer had accompanied Andrés Manuel López Obrador for more than three decades. He was first López Obrador’s secretario particular, private secretary, in 1996. In November 2002, he was named to the post again, when López Obrador was head of government of Mexico City.

Eje Central described his place at the presidency: “Es capaz de abrir espacio en el tiempo del tabasqueño para alguna persona y al mismo tiempo decir no” (He is able to open space in the time of the man from Tabasco for someone, and at the same time to say no). A column in Expansión called him “una de las aduanas para llegar al presidente” (one of the checkpoints on the way to the president).

Levers and Good Trees

For a study published in 2009, two researchers asked 500 adults in Aguascalientes about 60 popular sayings related to corruption. One was Más vale tener palancas que dinero, “it is better to have levers than money.” 83 percent of respondents linked it to corruption.

Another was El que a buen árbol se arrima, buena sombra le cobija, “whoever draws close to a good tree is sheltered by good shade.” 76 percent said they had used it.

Claiming Influence

Article 221 of Mexico’s Federal Penal Code defines the crime of tráfico de influencia, influence peddling. It also covers the private person who, without legal authority to take part in a public matter, “afirme tener influencia” (claims to have influence) over the officials who decide it. The penalty is two to six years in prison and a fine.

Five Letters of Reference

For the election of judges by popular vote, Article 96 of the Constitution asks candidates for the Supreme Court for an essay and for five letters of reference. They must send “cinco cartas de referencia de sus vecinos, colegas o personas que respalden su idoneidad para desempeñar el cargo” (five letters of reference from their neighbors, colleagues or persons who vouch for their suitability for the office). The call for candidates repeated the requirement.

In November 2024, Magistrate Maribel Méndez de Lara, of the evaluation committee of the Legislative Branch, said that the committees would check the letters by telephone with the people who had signed them.

The Paperwork Coyote

In Mexico, a coyote de trámites is “el intermediario informal que se ofrece a resolver gestiones ante oficinas de gobierno” (the informal middleman who offers to sort out procedures at government offices), according to Cultura Colectiva. The coyote does this for money. In formal language, the same person is a gestor informal.

Through Friends and Relatives

In August 2019, Mexico’s Labor Secretary, Luisa María Alcalde Luján, spoke at the ExpoEmpleo OCC job fair. According to Excélsior, she said that 56 percent of employed people in Mexico had found their job through personal contacts, friends or relatives. Only 25 percent of job seekers used private agencies or job boards.

The Vocabulary of Trust

Confianza means trust. It also means familiarity between people.

De confianza, a person one can rely on, or a close and intimate one.

En confianza, in private, between people who trust each other.

Agarrar confianza, to grow at ease with someone over time.

Pásale, con confianza, “come in, make yourself at home,” said to a guest.

Tomarse confianzas, to take liberties, to act with more familiarity than the relationship allows.

Herod’s Law

Luis Estrada’s film La ley de Herodes (1999) is set in 1949. Juan Vargas, an honest clerk, is made mayor of the village of San Pedro de los Saguaros. His padrino político, his political godfather, is López, the private secretary of the governor. López advises him to use his power and gives him a gun. By the end of the film, Vargas is a federal deputy.

According to El Universal, the state film institute IMCINE tried to pull the film from the Acapulco film festival in November 1999. The film went on to win nine Ariel awards.

The Lever

In Mexico, a person who tiene palanca, “has a lever,” has a connection who can open a door. In a 2021 article, the researchers Arellano-Gault and Trejo Alonso describe the palanca as a mechanism for exchanging favors among acquaintances and “acquaintances of acquaintances.” It forms a network “that rests on relationships of trust.”

One participant in their focus groups said: “En México, la vida se compone de una serie de palancas” (In Mexico, life is made up of a series of levers).