In 1990, the development bank Banrural stopped lending to poor farmers. The National Solidarity Program, Pronasol, then lent to them through Crédito a la Palabra, credit on one’s word. The loans required no traditional collateral and, according to the study, charged no interest. According to the government’s report of 1993, more than one million farmers received such credit.
A farmer who did not repay did not receive a new loan. The unpaid loan became a one-time subsidy.
Ser de palabra or tener palabra, to be a person of one’s word. The Diccionario del español de México defines it as “ser leal, honrado y cumplido” (to be loyal, honest and dutiful).
Cumplido describes a person who meets obligations. As a noun, it also means a compliment. Empeñar la palabra, to pledge one’s word. De palabra, said but not set down in writing. Faltar a su palabra, to break a promise.
On May 12, 2018, in Guelatao, Oaxaca, presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered the teachers of the CNTE union a ten-point commitment. According to Expansión, he saw no need to sign it. The next day he said: “Los maestros me tienen confianza y saben que yo cumplo los compromisos” (The teachers trust me and know that I keep my commitments). (Video in Spanish.)
As president, he said in October 2023: “Soy un hombre de palabra” (I am a man of my word).
Article 2406 of Mexico’s Federal Civil Code says that a lease must be in writing. If it is not, the fault is attributed to the landlord. In INEGI’s National Housing Survey of 2020, 16.4 percent of inhabited private homes were rented. Of these, 54.0 percent had a current rental contract.
INEGI’s report does not say how the others were agreed.
In 2019, María del Carmen Ventura Patiño wrote about the rental of farmland in Relaciones, the journal of El Colegio de Michoacán. She described it as “un trato de palabra que se celebra entre las partes” (a deal by word made between the parties). For this reason, she noted, there is hardly a reliable record of it. She cited the agricultural census of 2007, which counted 2,667,000 rented hectares.
On April 24, 2020, during the pandemic, the Diario Oficial published the rules for a program of loans of 25,000 pesos to family microbusinesses. It became known as Crédito a la Palabra, “credit on one’s word.”
At a government press conference on May 4, 2020, employers were invited to register for “este crédito de 25 mil pesos a la palabra, sin garantía, sin aval, sin historial crediticio” (this credit of 25,000 pesos on one’s word, without collateral, without a guarantor, without a credit history). According to a government bulletin, 1,386,405 such credits were granted in 2020, in two forms.
¡Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes! (Jalisco, don’t back down!) is a 1941 film directed by Joselito Rodríguez and starring Jorge Negrete. The film site Sensacine México calls the title “una frase nacional” (a national phrase) and “una declaración de carácter” (a declaration of character).
Rajarse is one of the Mexicanisms recognized by the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua. It means “retractarse, o faltar a una promesa” (to back down, or to break a promise).
Te doy mi palabra, “I give you my word.”
Palabra de honor, “word of honor.”
Lo prometido es deuda, “what is promised is a debt.”
Del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho, “from saying to doing is a long way.” The Ministry of Public Education uses the saying as the title of a school lesson on sayings.