In December 2020, Antonio Michel wrote in Expansión about the changes in President López Obrador’s cabinet, under a title that set trust above competence. He argued that the posts were filled mainly for loyalty. “Muchos miembros del gabinete convergen en dar la razón a su jefe aun cuando no la tiene” (Many members of the cabinet agree with their boss even when he is wrong).
The Close Circle
“Es común que el presidente se informe a través de su círculo cercano” (It is common for the president to be informed through his close circle). A column in Vanguardia in March 2026 named the close circle of López Obrador, the one that gave him opinions and information: his family, Julio Scherer Ibarra, Ramírez Cuevas, his secretary Alejandro Esquer and General Audomaro Martínez.
Of President Sheinbaum, the column said that it is not clear with whom she shares her decisions.
The War Room
In Mexican politics, a campaign’s strategy is set in its cuarto de guerra, its war room. A column in Ruptura360 describes who sits there: “personas y colaboradores de confianza de quién los preside, son los llamados ‘primer círculo'” (people and collaborators trusted by the one who presides, the so-called “first circle”).
In Juntos Hicimos Historia, her book on the 2018 campaign, Tatiana Clouthier, López Obrador’s campaign coordinator, gave a chapter to his war room. Expansión published it in March 2019.
Without the Paper
Article 24 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law requires working conditions to be set down in writing when no collective contract applies.
Article 26 sets what happens when they are not: “La falta del escrito a que se refieren los artículos 24 y 25 no priva al trabajador de los derechos que deriven de las normas de trabajo y de los servicios prestados, pues se imputará al patrón la falta de esa formalidad.”
The worker keeps the rights that arise from labor law and from the work done, and the missing paper counts against the employer.
Credit on One’s Word
On April 24, 2020, during the pandemic, the Diario Oficial published the rules for a program of loans of 25,000 pesos to family microbusinesses. It became known as Crédito a la Palabra, “credit on one’s word.”
At a government press conference on May 4, 2020, employers were invited to register for “este crédito de 25 mil pesos a la palabra, sin garantía, sin aval, sin historial crediticio” (this credit of 25,000 pesos on one’s word, without collateral, without a guarantor, without a credit history). According to a government bulletin, 1,386,405 such credits were granted in 2020, in two forms.
Paper Talks
Papelito habla, “a little paper talks.” A 2025 lesson for the second year of secondary school, in the Nueva Escuela Mexicana materials of the Ministry of Public Education, takes the saying as its title.
Among its examples are spoken promises such as “¡Te doy mi palabra!” (I give you my word!). It explains that the value of such words has moved to the documents of everyday life, such as receipts and contracts.
Tamales and Mariachis
On September 23, 2024, a week before leaving office, President López Obrador said goodbye to his security cabinet. His morning press conference that day began 21 minutes late.
He explained, according to El Financiero: “Al finalizar la reunión de hoy hubo tamales y mariachis y muchas fotos, y por eso llegamos tarde, pero aquí estamos” (At the end of today’s meeting there were tamales and mariachis and many photos, and that is why we arrived late, but here we are). (Video in Spanish, without subtitles.)
Récord described the farewell as “un pequeño convivio” (a small get-together).
The Most Expensive Tamales
On the evening of February 12, 2020, President López Obrador invited more than 100 business leaders to dinner at the National Palace. They were served tamales of chipilín and hot chocolate. On each guest’s table lay a carta compromiso, a letter of commitment, asking how many tickets the guest would buy in the raffle tied to the presidential plane. (Video in Spanish, without subtitles.)
The next morning, the president said that at least 75 business leaders had committed 1,500 million pesos. Bosco de la Vega, president of the National Agricultural and Livestock Council, called them “los tamales más caros de mi vida” (the most expensive tamales of my life).
The Agenda in the Law
Article 187 of Mexico’s General Law of Commercial Companies reads: “La convocatoria para las Asambleas deberá contener la Orden del Día y será firmada por quien la haga” (The notice of a shareholders’ meeting must contain the agenda and be signed by whoever issues it).
Under Article 188, a resolution adopted in breach of these rules is void, unless all the shares were represented at the vote. Article 194 requires the minutes to be entered in the company’s minute book.
Meeting-itis
Mexican offices have a word for too many meetings, juntitis, from junta, a meeting. In March 2022, an Expansión headline read “De la juntitis a la videollamada: las empresas son adictas a las juntas” (From meeting-itis to the video call: companies are addicted to meetings). In 2011, the magazine Práctica Fiscal described juntitis as “inflamación administrativa” (administrative inflammation). It noted that improvised meetings are known in Mexico as bomberazos.