In 2012, the Journal of Business Communication published a study by Madlock of 168 Mexican employees. A summary by the Institute for Public Relations describes Mexico as a country with high power distance. The study found that “the one-way downward style of communication meets the Mexican employees’ expectations.”
Stopping the Clock
On October 20, 2021, the Chamber of Deputies reached its deadline to send the revenue law and the tax package to the Senate. Expansión explained how the deputies dealt with it. “En el calendario de los legisladores sigue siendo 18 de octubre” (On the legislators’ calendar it is still October 18).
The practice is called stopping the reloj legislativo, the legislative clock. Expansión describes it as a practice of Congress to avoid missing legal and constitutional deadlines. A session opened within the legal limit remains valid.
Three Hours and Twenty-Seven Minutes
On December 26, 2022, President López Obrador’s morning press conference lasted “3 horas con 27 minutos y 20 segundos” (3 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds), according to Expansión, which reported it as a record. The conference of December 5 had lasted 3 hours and 18 minutes. The magazine put the average length of the mañaneras at 114 minutes.
Called Early to Start Late
“Las reuniones, las citas, los compromisos fijados de antemano suelen empezar con una hora de retraso” (Meetings, appointments and commitments fixed in advance usually start an hour late). José E. Sánchez, a researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in Tapachula, wrote this in the center’s magazine Ecofronteras.
He added that the person who arrives on time is surprised to wait an hour for the start, because the meeting is called earlier so that it can start an hour later.
Almost There
Llego en quince, “I’ll be there in fifteen.” Ya voy para allá, “I’m on my way.” Voy de salida, “I’m just leaving.” In 2015, Rulo Luna Ramos explained what these phrases really mean, for Matador Network in Spanish. The first, he wrote, means half an hour, forty minutes at most. The second means “I’m going to go.” The third means “I’m turning on the water heater.”
Among friends, people say of someone who is late, as the columnist Joel Hernández Santiago noted in Quadratín in 2017: “a este, para comer con él, invítenlo a desayunar” (to have lunch with this one, invite him to breakfast).
Neither Harms Nor Benefits
“Ni nos perjudica, ni nos beneficia, sino todo lo contrario” (It neither harms us nor benefits us, quite the opposite). In 2022, El Financiero included the phrase in a review of the sayings of President Luis Echeverría.
The attribution is uncertain. In 2026, José Rafael Vilar wrote in the newspaper Correo del Sur that he came across the phrase in Mexico, attributed to Echeverría “entre serio y en broma” (half seriously, half in jest).
Taking the Rostrum
In October 2020, opposition deputies took the rostrum of the Chamber of Deputies during the debate on eliminating public trust funds, the fideicomisos, and a recess was declared.
On December 15, 2025, PAN legislators took the rostrum of the Mexico City Congress in a dispute over the creation of a single transparency comptroller. N+ reported that it happened “entre golpes, gritos y empujones” (amid blows, shouts and shoving). (Video in Spanish, without subtitles.)
The Plenary Before the Session
The Morena groups in Congress hold a reunión plenaria before a session period. In August 2026, Expansión reported that both groups would meet on August 30 and 31 “para preparar las iniciativas que van a discutir y deliberar en el próximo periodo ordinario” (to prepare the bills they will discuss and debate in the next ordinary period).
On August 30, Grupo Animal reported that the Senate group met cabinet members behind closed doors.
In January 2026, La Razón described the purpose of an earlier plenary: “alinear la agenda con las políticas del Poder Ejecutivo” (to align the agenda with the policies of the Executive).
The Weighted Vote
Under Article 31 of the Organic Law of Congress, the Political Coordination Board of the Chamber of Deputies is made up of the coordinators of the parliamentary groups.
Article 35 sets how it decides: “Adoptará sus decisiones por mayoría absoluta mediante el sistema de voto ponderado, en el cual los respectivos Coordinadores representarán tantos votos como integrantes tenga su Grupo Parlamentario” (It adopts its decisions by absolute majority through a weighted vote, in which each coordinator counts as many votes as his group has members).
In the Dark
En lo oscurito, “in the little dark,” means done out of sight. In April 2019, after money and assets were returned to the union leader Elba Esther Gordillo, President López Obrador said “No hago acuerdos en lo oscurito” (I do not make deals in the dark). La Razón reported that Morena’s national leader, Mario Delgado, said his party makes no deals en lo oscurito with the PRI.
The Excélsior columnist Jorge Fernández Menéndez has written that, in Mexico, a legislative agreement is assumed to have been made in the dark.