Dios mediante, “God willing.” Si Dios quiere, “if God wants.” In 2020, the political scientist D. E. Vilchis Carrillo published a study in the journal Política y Cultura titled “Participaré… si Dios quiere” (I will take part… if God wants).
He describes the two phrases as popular expressions of Mexican Catholic culture, which “se usaban cada vez que se expresaba algún deseo futuro” (were used whenever a wish for the future was expressed).
On December 15, 1987, the government of President Miguel de la Madrid, the labor movement and business signed the Pacto de Solidaridad Económica, the Economic Solidarity Pact. Fidel Velázquez signed for labor and Agustín Legorreta for business.
The pact did not stay as signed. A second phase began in March 1988, with a wage increase of 3 percent. The pact was extended to November, and a fourth stage followed the president’s report of September 1, 1988. Under President Carlos Salinas, the government reinforced it with the PECE.
The working conditions of Mexico’s Supreme Court grant its staff “una tolerancia de quince minutos,” a tolerance of fifteen minutes, after the start of the working day. Four ordinary late arrivals in a month cost half a day’s pay.
The Mexico City government’s working conditions of 2010 give ten minutes. An arrival up to minute 20 is a minor delay, and up to minute 30 a serious one. After minute 30, the employee may work only with the supervisor’s permission.