Mexico, Trust, Introductions - understand-culture

Two Witnesses

A Mexican citizen who has no identification with a photograph can still obtain a voter card from the National Electoral Institute (INE). The applicant may present dos testigos, two witnesses. According to TV Azteca, one witness must be registered in the same municipality and the other in the same state, and each may act as a witness only four times in 120 days.

At least one municipality does something similar. In Temixco, Morelos, a constancia de identidad, a certificate of identity, requires two witnesses, each with a copy of an INE card. The first witness must be a close relative who lives in the municipality.

Witnesses the Notary Knows

When a notary does not know a person who signs a deed, the law allows several ways to establish that person’s identity. One is through witnesses. Article 72 of the Notarial Law of the State of Tabasco allows identity to be established “por la declaración de dos testigos a quienes conozca el Notario” (by the statement of two witnesses whom the notary knows).

The Notarial Law of the Federal District also allowed identity to be shown by two adult witnesses identified by the notary. It made the witnesses responsible for confirming the identity and capacity of the people who signed.

By Invitation of a Member

Club 51, a private club in Mexico City, accepts new members only by invitation of an active member. According to Uno TV, that member presents the proposal to the club’s administrative council.

Responsible Because I Proposed Her

On April 20, 2023, at his morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke about Senator Lilly Téllez, who had left Morena and joined the opposition. “Yo soy responsable en buena medida porque yo la propuse” (I am responsible to a large extent, because I proposed her), he said.

He added that he had also recommended other people who later betrayed his government.

The Vocabulary of Godparents and Friends

El que tiene padrinos se bautiza, “the one who has godparents gets baptized.” Sin padrino, no hay bautizo, “without a godfather, there is no baptism.” Herón Pérez Martínez of El Colegio de Michoacán records both in his studies of the Mexican refranero, the body of popular sayings. He calls the padrino “pariente social muy apreciado en la cultura popular mexicana” (a social relative highly valued in Mexican popular culture).

Cuatismo, from cuate, friend, is the tendency to favor friends, above all at work, according to the Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México. A recomendado is a person who comes with a recommendation. The dictionary’s example reads: “Son recomendados del ministro o parientes del subsecretario o amigotes del presidente” (They are people recommended by the minister, or relatives of the undersecretary, or cronies of the president).

Hands in the Fire

Meter las manos al fuego por alguien. “To put one’s hands in the fire for someone.” The phrase means to vouch for a person. A Mexican news site used it in a headline about a politician who would vouch for a colleague.

Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. “Tell me who you go around with, and I will tell you who you are.” The newspaper El Imparcial explains that the saying suggests that “las personas pueden ser juzgadas por quienes frecuentan” (people can be judged by the company they keep).