A publication of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, citing the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor of 2024, states: “En México, un 81% de los emprendedores declara haber iniciado su negocio debido a la falta de oportunidades laborales” (In Mexico, 81 percent of entrepreneurs say they started their business because of a lack of job opportunities).
Alerters
On July 25, 2019, Mexico’s Ministry of Public Administration launched a program called Ciudadanos Alertadores Internos y Externos de la Corrupción, Internal and External Citizen Alerters of Corruption. Expansión described it as a platform “con interfaz que permite el anonimato” (with an interface that allows anonymity). The ministry promised to protect alerters so that they would not become victims of reprisals. (Video in Spanish.)
By October 2020, according to Expansión, the ministry had received 4,530 alerts.
A Closed Mouth
En boca cerrada no entran moscas, “flies do not enter a closed mouth.” In a 2023 list of Mexican sayings for business, the magazine Emprendedor explains it: “Significa que es mejor mantenerse callado en ciertas situaciones para evitar problemas o conflictos innecesarios” (It means that it is better to stay quiet in certain situations to avoid unnecessary problems or conflicts).
In a market dialogue in a reading text of the SEP, Mexico’s education ministry, one speaker says: “¡Ya te escuché, chamaco! En boca cerrada no entran moscas” (I heard you, kid! Flies do not enter a closed mouth).
I Would Not Know
In a 2015 column in Letras Libres, the novelist Enrique Serna wrote that “mucha gente prefiere pasar por ignorante que negar en seco” (many people prefer to pass for ignorant rather than refuse flatly). He named no sabría decirle, “I would not know how to tell you,” and mande usted, “at your command,” as “fórmulas de vasallaje” (formulas of vassalage).
Ethics Lines
In September 2026, IDC Online reported a KPMG survey of companies in Mexico. 84 percent had an active ethics line, a channel for reporting misconduct. Only 23 percent ran it through an independent third party, and 44 percent had a formal policy against retaliation.
The article links the low use of outside providers to employees’ fear of reprisals or of leaks.
Work Risks
Article 489 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law lists what does not free the employer from liability for work risks. The first case is “Que el trabajador explícita o implícitamente hubiese asumido los riesgos de trabajo” (that the worker explicitly or implicitly assumed the work risks). The second is “Que el accidente ocurra por torpeza o negligencia del trabajador” (that the accident occurs through the worker’s clumsiness or negligence).
The third case is an accident caused by the imprudence or negligence of a co-worker or of a third person.
The Responsible Director
Mexico City’s Construction Regulations create the figure of the Director Responsable de Obra, the Responsible Director of Works. Article 32 defines this director as “la persona física auxiliar de la Administración” (the individual who assists the administration), with authorization and registration from the city.
Under Article 34, the director gives a responsiva, a signed acceptance of responsibility, when he “tome a su cargo el cumplimiento normativo del proyecto y la dirección de la ejecución de una obra” (takes charge of the project’s compliance with the rules and of the direction of the work).
I Fully Assume the Responsibility
On September 1, 1969, in his fifth annual report, President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz spoke about the events of 1968, the year of the student movement and of the killings at Tlatelolco.
He said: “asumo íntegramente la responsabilidad: personal, ética, social, jurídica, política histórica, por las decisiones del Gobierno en relación con los sucesos del año pasado” (I fully assume the responsibility, personal, ethical, social, legal, political, historical, for the decisions of the government regarding the events of last year).
The passage follows his praise of the army for restoring order.
First Authority on Board
Article 27 of Mexico’s Law of Navigation and Maritime Commerce says: “El capitán de la embarcación será a bordo la primera autoridad” (The captain of the vessel shall be the first authority on board).
The captain is responsible for the vessel, its crew, passengers and cargo, “y de los actos jurídicos que realice, aún cuando no se encuentre a bordo” (and for the legal acts he performs, even when he is not on board).
The Pardon Denied
In June 1867, Maximilian of Habsburg, the defeated emperor, had been sentenced to death. Appeals for his life came from abroad, among them from Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Hugo. On June 12, his defense formally asked President Benito Juárez for a pardon.
Juárez refused. Maximilian was executed on June 19, 1867. Victor Hugo’s letter arrived the day after the execution.