The Vocabulary of Owing

Quedar a deber, to still owe part of a debt or an obligation. Estar a mano, to be even, with nothing owed on either side, according to the Diccionario del español de México. Echar una mano, to lend a hand. Hacerle la valona a alguien, to do something for someone out of solidarity or complicity.

People who only take have their own words. A gorrón eats and drinks at the expense of others. A conchudo shamelessly takes advantage of other people’s work. Al nopal sólo se le arriman cuando tiene tunas, “people only come near the cactus when it has fruit.”

Mutual Aid Societies

According to a history published by Mexico City’s science ministry, the Reform Laws dissolved the guilds in 1857. Urban artisans then formed sociedades mutualistas, mutual aid societies. Their stated aim was to support members who fell ill, and they also organized exhibitions and festivals. The Gran Círculo de Obreros de México, formally founded in 1872, became the largest workers’ association of its time.

Helping Other Households

In INEGI’s National Time Use Survey of 2024, 21.6 percent of people aged 12 and over did voluntary or community work, or work in support of other households.

The share was 23.5 percent for women and 19.4 percent for men, at an average of 6.9 hours a week. In INEGI’s satellite account of unpaid work, help to other households and voluntary work make up 8.7 percent of the value of unpaid domestic and care work.

Someone to Count On

INEGI’s survey of self-reported well-being, ENBIARE 2025, asks whether people have a red de apoyo, a support network. INEGI defines it as having the help of relatives, friends or other people in case of urgency or need. According to INEGI’s press release, 3.8 percent said that they had no such network.

The Book of Guelaguetzas

The guelaguetza is a system of mutual help between families in Oaxaca. In the communities studied by Camilo Sempio Durán, some families keep a libro de guelaguetzas, a book of guelaguetzas.

According to his article in the journal Textual in 2022, the book records “quién aportó en el pasado y quien está obligado a aportar en el futuro” (who contributed in the past and who is obliged to contribute in the future).

The article quotes Martin Diskin, who wrote in 1986 that fully settling the debts of one patronal feast takes 20 years of constant giving.

Favor for Favor

Favor con favor se paga. “A favor is paid with a favor.” In 2011, Evangelina Tapia Tovar and Genaro Zalpa studied corruption in Mexican sayings in the journal Relaciones, of El Colegio de Michoacán. One section of their article is titled “Más vale tener palancas que dinero” (Better to have levers than money).

A palanca, they write, “va creando un compromiso con la persona que lo hizo” (creates a commitment to the person who did it).

One person they quote says that whoever has pulled a lever once “ya está comprometido a volverlo a hacer” (is already committed to doing it again). The authors write that levers contribute to “tortuguismo burocrático” (bureaucratic slowness), which pushes people to look for faster paths, even illegitimate ones.

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