Mexico - understand-culture

Camarillas

In 2012, the historian José Alfredo Gómez Estrada published Lealtades divididas. Camarillas y poder en México, 1913-1932 (Divided Loyalties. Camarillas and Power in Mexico).

A review in a Mexican history journal sums up his account of the camarillas: “son grupos pequeños unidos por relaciones densas, en los cuales hay un líder que desempeña el papel de mentor” (they are small groups bound by dense relationships, in which a leader plays the role of mentor).

“El intercambio de favores y recompensas entre líder y discípulos los transformó en fuertes lazos de lealtad” (The exchange of favors and rewards between leader and disciples turned them into strong bonds of loyalty).

Chocolate Cars

Autos chocolate are cars brought into Mexico from the United States without legal import papers. On January 19, 2022, the federal government published a decree to regularize them. The procedure cost 2,500 pesos and was to be open “hasta el 20 de julio de 2022” (until July 20, 2022). (Video in Spanish.)

The program went on well past that date. In January 2026, La Razón reported finance ministry figures: “se han legalizado un total de 2 millones 987 mil 839 vehículos” (a total of 2,987,839 vehicles have been legalized), with 7,302 million pesos collected.

Forgiven Taxes

In May 2019, Margarita Ríos-Farjat, head of the tax administration SAT, gave the total of taxes forgiven between 2007 and 2018. At current value, the condonations came to 400,902 million pesos, for 153,530 taxpayers. On May 20, 2019, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree ending them. (Video in Spanish.)

On March 6, 2020, the Diario Oficial published a reform of Article 28 of the Constitution “en materia de condonación de impuestos” (on the forgiveness of taxes). The article now lists the condonation of taxes among the things it prohibits.

Twenty-Four Million Buildings

In October 2025, INSUS, the federal institute for land regularization, reported “alrededor de 24 millones de edificaciones potencialmente irregulares” (around 24 million potentially irregular buildings) in Mexico. According to Vanguardia, 93.5 percent came from sales without regularization and 6.5 percent from land invasions.

The institute added that “solo el 63 por ciento de ellas son aptas para regularización” (only 63 percent of them are suitable for regularization).

Making the Bed for the Coach

Hacerle la cama al técnico, “to make the bed for the coach,” is a Mexican football expression. The sports newspaper Récord explains that cama comes from camarilla, a clique. It is a football saying used “para insinuar que parte del plantel” (to insinuate that part of the squad) is undermining its coach.

In March 2025, Hugo Sánchez spoke on the ESPN program Futbol Picante about his time as coach of Pumas. He said that players commonly do this to a coach when they are not comfortable with him, and that his own squad had done it to him. “Me hicieron la camita, de manera indirecta” (They made the little bed for me, indirectly), he said, according to Récord. (Video in Spanish.)

A Favor Between Friends

Hazme el paro, “do me the paro,” is how a Mexican asks a friend for a favor. In 2022, Uno TV explained that among friends people speak of doing a paro, “que quiere decir favor” (which means a favor). Chilango describes hacer el paro as doing someone a favor or helping them through a hard time.

Godínez

Godínez is Mexican slang for an office worker. In 2015, Chilango published a short glossary of the godínez. It describes an employee who brings his own dishes to work, tries to keep his punctuality bonus, and “se pela a las 6 empunto de la oficina” (is out of the office at six on the dot).

Burned by Milk

El que se quemó con leche hasta al jocoque le sopla. “Whoever was burned by milk blows even on the jocoque.” Jocoque is a soured milk product. The saying appears in a study of food in the Mexican refranero, the body of popular sayings, by Herón Pérez Martínez. The study was published by the Institute of Historical Research of the UNAM.

Speaking as Tú

A 2026 article in the Anuario de Letras of the UNAM compares the Mexican forms of address tú and usted. It describes tú as the “tratamiento de la cercanía, la solidaridad y la confianza” (form of address of closeness, solidarity and trust).

It describes usted as the form of deference, distance and respect. In one interview in the study, the two speakers settle the question at the start and agree to address each other as tú.

The Court’s Definition of Workplace Harassment

In 2022, the administration of Mexico’s Supreme Court issued a general agreement on acoso laboral, workplace harassment. It describes conduct “con el objetivo de intimidar, excluir, opacar, aplanar, amedrentar o consumir emocional o intelectualmente” (with the aim of intimidating, excluding, overshadowing, flattening, frightening or consuming emotionally or intellectually) a person. A 2014 thesis of the Court’s First Chamber had used almost the same words.