Mexico, Planning - understand-culture

Signed Before a Notary

As a candidate in 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto signed his campaign commitments before a notary public. He signed 266 of them, according to the employers’ confederation Coparmex. (Video in Spanish.)

In December 2017, a year before his term ended, Coparmex wrote that the actions needed to fulfill 106 of the 266 commitments were still missing. In 2015, El Financiero had obtained the government’s own count through a transparency request. The transport ministry reported 31 of its 105 commitments as fulfilled.

Agreed by Word

Apalabrar, from palabra, word, is to agree on something by word of mouth. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines it as to commit to something or to contract it verbally. One of its examples: “Antes de firmar contrato se apalabraron sobre el precio del terreno” (Before signing a contract, they agreed by word on the price of the land).

De palabra, “by word,” the dictionary explains, means said but not set down in writing: prometer de palabra, to promise by word, resolver un asunto sólo de palabra, to settle a matter only by word. A person who is de palabra is “leal, honrado y cumplido” (loyal, honest and reliable).

Homes Without Deeds

In August 2026, Expansión reported that 294,660 homes in Mexico City, 16.5 percent of the total, have no escrituras, the public deeds that prove ownership. The figures come from the national household income and expenditure survey of 2024, as cited by the federal ministry of urban development, SEDATU.

In April 2026, Infobae warned against “escrituras de palabra” (deeds by word). It wrote that many people wrongly believe that a simple private contract of sale is enough to prove ownership. The safe route, it explained, is a public deed before a notary, entered in the public property register.

Borrowing from Family

In 2021, INEGI and the banking regulator CNBV carried out the National Survey of Financial Inclusion (ENIF). According to a summary of the survey by BBVA Research, 40.0 percent of adults aged 18 to 70 who reported an economic impact from COVID-19 borrowed from relatives or acquaintances.

In the same survey, 32.7 percent of all adults aged 18 to 70 had at least one formal loan, according to INEGI.

The First Chief

The Plan de Guadalupe, signed in Coahuila on March 26, 1913, launched the Constitutionalist movement of the Mexican Revolution. Its fourth article names Venustiano Carranza, governor of Coahuila, as “Primer Jefe del Ejército que se denominará ‘Constitucionalista'” (First Chief of the army that will be called Constitutionalist). (Video in Spanish.)

Its fifth article provides that Carranza will take charge of the executive power on an interim basis once the army occupies Mexico City.

Paid to Arrive on Time

Mexico’s federal government pays many of its employees bonuses for punctuality. In 2018, Mexico News Daily reported, citing data that El Universal obtained through transparency requests, that federal employees received 40.7 billion pesos in punctuality bonuses between 2012 and 2017. Most of it went to staff of the social security institute IMSS.

In 2017, El Universal’s English edition had given a different figure: 34.7 billion pesos for the years 2013 to 2016. The two counts cover different periods.

Work Without a Written Contract

Articles 24 and 25 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law require working conditions to be set down in writing. Article 26 states: “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.”

In other words, a worker without the written document keeps all rights, and the missing paper counts against the employer.

According to INEGI’s employment survey, as reported by the Mexico Solidarity Project, 41.4 percent of subordinate workers had no written contract in February 2026.

The Banner from Atotonilco

The conspirators of Querétaro planned to begin their uprising in December 1810, according to México Desconocido. Their plan was discovered in September. When Miguel Hidalgo learned of it, he began the movement in Dolores, on September 16.

On the march, at the sanctuary of Atotonilco, Hidalgo took a banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe, according to INEHRM, the government’s institute for historical studies. A history booklet on the government portal gob.mx says that the movement gathered under this emblem, which “se dice” (it is said) came from the parish of Atotonilco.

The World Cup of 1986

In late 1982, Colombia gave up hosting the 1986 World Cup. Its president, Belisario Betancur, announced: “Anuncio a mis compatriotas que el Mundial de Fútbol 1986 no se hará en Colombia” (I announce to my compatriots that the 1986 World Cup will not be held in Colombia). On May 20, 1983, the Executive Committee of FIFA chose Mexico in its place, unanimously.

In September 1985, a powerful earthquake struck Mexico City. Inspections found no serious damage to the stadiums, and “la decisión fue seguir adelante y mantener a México como sede” (the decision was to go ahead and keep Mexico as host).

Under the Employer’s Authority

Article 134 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law lists the duties of workers. Fraction III requires them to “desempeñar el servicio bajo la dirección del patrón o de su representante, a cuya autoridad estarán subordinados en todo lo concerniente al trabajo” (perform the service under the direction of the employer or the employer’s representative, to whose authority they are subordinate in everything that concerns the work).

Article 47 lists the reasons for which an employer may dismiss a worker without liability. Fraction XI names “desobedecer el trabajador al patrón o a sus representantes, sin causa justificada, siempre que se trate del trabajo contratado” (disobedience of the worker toward the employer or the employer’s representatives, without justified cause, when it concerns the work contracted for).