Mexico, Relationships, Personal Hierarchy

Godmother to Everyone

In 2016, the researchers Legorreta Díaz and Ramos Gil published a study of the last years of the haciendas of Ocosingo, in Chiapas, in the Revista Mexicana de Sociología. A trusted worker remembered doña Elena, the owner of the hacienda San José Chajtajal: “Era madrina de todo mundo” (She was godmother to everyone). “Casi todos eran sus ahijados” (Almost everyone was her godchild).

A former peón of the hacienda Dolores described a good boss. “Un buen patrón es el que da monte pa’ trabajar, ayuda a su gente a sembrar su milpa” (A good patrón is one who gives land to work and helps his people plant their cornfield). The authors write that this authority “nos remite a la autoridad del padre” (brings us back to the authority of the father).

Soldier of the President

In El Tigre: Emilio Azcárraga y su imperio Televisa (The Tiger: Emilio Azcárraga and His Televisa Empire), a biography published in 2000, Claudia Fernández and Andrew Paxman write that in 1990 Azcárraga called himself “soldado del PRI y del presidente” (soldier of the PRI and of the president). Five years later, they write, he said he was “soldado del presidente,” and nothing more.

The remark is quoted in several wordings. Some versions speak of Televisa as a whole. Other sources give no date.

The Patron

The Diccionario del español de México defines patrón as a person “que dirige o manda en alguna cosa, que es propietaria de una fábrica o un negocio y que contrata trabajadores” (who directs or commands something, who owns a factory or a business and hires workers).

Its second sense is the saint “a cuya protección se encomienda una iglesia, un pueblo, una persona” (to whose protection a church, a town or a person is entrusted).

El mero mero is the most important person. The dictionary’s example: “¿Quién es el mero mero de esta oficina?” (Who is the top man in this office?).

Bread or the Stick

Under Porfirio Díaz, the government’s way of keeping the peace became known as pan o palo, “bread or the stick.” According to Britannica, those who went along received a living and possibly wealth. Those who refused faced harassment, prison or death.

Britannica lists the phrase among Díaz’s political slogans. A history column in Zeta Tijuana writes that it was “el pueblo” (the people) who called his policy “pan y palo.”

Camarillas

In 2012, the historian José Alfredo Gómez Estrada published Lealtades divididas. Camarillas y poder en México, 1913-1932 (Divided Loyalties. Camarillas and Power in Mexico). A review in a Mexican history journal sums up his account of the camarillas: “son grupos pequeños unidos por relaciones densas, en los cuales hay un líder que desempeña el papel de mentor” (they are small groups bound by dense relationships, in which a leader plays the role of mentor).

“El intercambio de favores y recompensas entre líder y discípulos los transformó en fuertes lazos de lealtad” (The exchange of favors and rewards between leader and disciples turned them into strong bonds of loyalty).

Tata

As president, Lázaro Cárdenas traveled through the states and met people directly. A text of the UNAM’s Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades says that he “recorrió el país escuchando, discutiendo y atendiendo quejas, peticiones y protestas” (traveled the country listening to, discussing and attending to complaints, petitions and protests). He also opened the National Palace to groups of peasants to hear their petitions.

He was given the title Tata. In July 2023, a Purépecha community gave Claudia Sheinbaum the title Nana. Infobae reported that before her, only Cárdenas had received such a title.

The Political Godfather

The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy gives padrino, godfather, a sense beyond baptism: “Persona que ampara y protege a otra, y que a veces emplea su poder para facilitarle la consecución de algo” (A person who shelters and protects another, and who sometimes uses his power to help the other achieve something). Mexican political talk speaks of the padrino político, the political godfather.

In July 2026, La Razón reported on padrinazgo among Morena’s aspirants for governor. A political scientist said that one aspirant in Baja California, Julieta Ramírez Padilla, walked a tightrope “debido a la sombra de su principal padrino político” (because of the shadow of her main political godfather). Another expert warned that an aspirant who accepts a padrino político risks losing all independence in office.

Almost Like a Family

In 1918, the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc of Monterrey founded a cooperative for its workers. In 2011, Expansión described it: the company “creó una sociedad cooperativa, que se encargaría de manejar los servicios para los empleados y sus parientes, casi como si se tratara de los miembros de una familia” (created a cooperative that would manage services for the employees and their relatives, almost as if they were members of a family).

Benevolence and Control

In 2003, P. G. Martínez published “Paternalism as a positive form of leader-subordinate exchange: Evidence from México” in the journal Management Research. The study draws on field data from organizations in Mexico and from U.S. organizations owned by Mexican immigrants. The leaders it describes look after their employees’ welfare at work and in their personal lives.

Martínez concludes that “paternalism combines paternalists’ benevolent acts with their subtle control over subordinates’ flexibility.”