Mexico, Problem-Solving - understand-culture

Ventilators in Five Months

On July 14, 2020, Mexico’s science council, Conacyt, presented two mechanical ventilators for COVID-19 patients. Ehécatl 4T was designed by the engineering center CIDESI. Gätsi was designed by the company Dydetec with support from CIDESI and Conacyt. The first lot was 500 units of each model. (Video in Spanish.)

According to Conacyt’s presentation, as reported by El Financiero, the ventilators were made in five months, “cuando en condiciones normales se llevarían de tres a cinco años” (when under normal conditions it would take three to five years). In January 2022, answering press criticism of delays and costs, Conahcyt stated that 1,130 ventilators had been made.

The Pothole Campaign

On October 16, 2024, eleven days into her term, Mexico City’s head of government Clara Brugada launched the Bachetón, a campaign to fill potholes. By early March 2025, she said, “se atendieron 83,198 baches” (83,198 potholes were attended to). On March 18, 2025, the city started a second round, the Mega Bachetón, with 500 crews. (Video in Spanish.)

In August 2025, the think tank IMCO wrote that the campaign patches the same streets again and again without addressing why they deteriorate. Agustín Ortega García, a specialist at the Universidad Iberoamericana, told Infobae that when the damage is only patched, “la afectación persiste y el bache inevitablemente volverá a abrirse” (the damage persists and the pothole will inevitably open again).

The Vocabulary of Getting By

Arreglárselas, to manage. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines it as finding a way to solve a problem “improvisando los medios o recursos que para ello se requieren” (improvising the means or resources that it requires). Salir del paso, to get out of a tight spot. The dictionary defines it as resolving a situation “a veces improvisadamente” (sometimes in an improvised way).

Áhi se va, “there it goes,” is a colloquial way of saying that something will do as it is. The dictionary’s example is Entrégalo, áhi se va, “Hand it in, it will do.” Hechizo, as an adjective, describes something made “improvisadamente, sin ajustarse a las reglas o a los procedimientos genuinos” (in an improvised way, without following the rules or the genuine procedures), as in una turbina hechiza, a makeshift turbine.

Self-Construction as Art

The artist Abraham Cruzvillegas was born in Mexico City in 1968 and grew up in Colonia Ajusco. According to Art21, the houses there were built “in ad hoc improvisations according to personal needs and economic resources.” Cruzvillegas uses the term autoconstrucción, self-construction, as the title and the concept of his work.

The Frame of an Unfinished Parliament

Under Porfirio Díaz, Mexico commissioned a Federal Legislative Palace from the French architect Émile Bénard. According to Excélsior, “la construcción fue suspendida en 1912 dejando abandonada su estructura metálica” (construction was suspended in 1912, leaving its steel frame abandoned). From 1933, the architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia used part of that structure to build the Monumento a la Revolución. The monument was completed in 1938. (Video in Spanish.)

Informal Work

In August 2026, according to INEGI, the informal employment rate was 55.0 percent of the employed population. That is 33.4 million people. A year earlier, in August 2025, the rate was 54.8 percent.

Voluntary Fees

Mexico’s Constitution says that public education is free. According to Grupo Animal, many public schools nevertheless ask parents for cuotas voluntarias, voluntary fees. In 2016, the think tank IMCO noted that the law also orders rules for regulating such donations and fees, and that three years after the education reform they were not evident.

On August 5, 2026, the Excélsior columnist Carlos Ornelas cited INEGI’s survey ENCIG. The share of users who see public education as free rose from 46.5 percent in 2023 to 51.9 percent in 2025.

He wrote that “la Constitución establece que la educación pública debe ser gratuita, pero, en la práctica, apenas la mitad de los usuarios percibe que, en realidad, lo sea” (the Constitution establishes that public education must be free, but in practice barely half of users perceive that it really is).

Irregular Acts in Procedures

INEGI’s survey of the quality of government, ENCIG 2025, counted “15 mil 642 casos por cada 100 mil habitantes” (15,642 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) of people who had contact with a public servant and experienced at least one act of corruption, according to El Financiero. In 2023, the figure was 13,966.

Of the people who dealt with public security authorities, 63.5 percent reported an irregular act. La Razón reported the estimated cost of corruption in ordinary procedures at 17,707.4 million pesos.

Complied With Little or Not at All

In October 2016, the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM surveyed 1,200 households for its Third National Survey of Constitutional Culture. According to a press release of the Supreme Court, 84 percent of respondents said that the Constitution is complied with “poco” or “nada” (little or not at all).

According to Animal Político, one in four respondents thought that breaking the law is not so bad, and that the bad thing is to get caught.

The Vocabulary of the Arrangement

Mordida, “bite.” The Diccionario del español de México defines it as money that a police officer, a bureaucrat or an official demands from someone. Among the purposes it lists is “para que logre terminar un trámite en un plazo razonable” (so that the person manages to finish a procedure in a reasonable time).

Moche, “cut,” is an illegal commission paid for the award of a job or a profit. An aviador, “aviator,” is a person who receives a salary in an office, particularly a government office, without working there. The dictionary’s example reads: “Algunas dependencias tienen muchos más aviadores que burócratas” (Some agencies have many more aviators than bureaucrats).