Federico Reyes Heroles
For Ivonne, 20 Years of Seriousness
When did it begin? There is no single date. To suggest such a thing only makes sense if one is pursuing a political agenda. But what is beyond doubt is that it is everywhere. Perhaps we are experiencing the climax, the worst moment of the disease. Not necessarily. Ethical and moral decay can continue to advance.
A 15-year-old boy enters a school and kills two teachers—241 homicides in three days. Homicides are down according to official figures, but disappearances number in the hundreds of thousands, according to the official account. A woman sunbathes on a balcony of the National Palace. A vice admiral, nephew of the former Secretary of the Navy, returns to court as a key figure in the fuel theft case. El Universal documents a “narco-payroll” at the Attorney General’s Office. At CIDE, they spend a fortune on a luxury cafeteria. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation hides its vehicle spending. Every day, 745 women face gender-based violence. The National Electoral Institute detects gross anomalies in Morena’s publication spending.
The oil spill, affecting around 600 kilometers of coastline, has received implausible explanations for weeks. The justice stumbles time and again while reading a text she supposedly knows by heart. The brother-in-law of the former Morena president creates shell companies, attempts to name them using the word “welfare”—everything points to money laundering. Desperate fishermen show fish covered in oil. Another spill occurs in Dos Bocas. The slick is enormous. To top it off, a fire breaks out at the same site, leaving several dead. The former governor of Baja California, Jaime Bonilla, is accused of embezzlement. The horror continues in the Gulf; photos of turtles, dolphins, and other forms of life trapped by the oil flood the front pages. The spill is estimated at a thousand baseboards. Mexico: continental champion of measles. Twenty-five tons of illegal “World Cup-related” merchandise are seized. App-based motorcycle taxi drivers are involved in small-scale drug dealing. UNESCO criticizes Mexico for reading and internet access in elementary schools. A military engineer responsible for embezzlement in the construction of the AIFA airport. A congressman from Querétaro and his family are linked to water theft. Pemex’s financial turmoil drags hundreds of suppliers into bankruptcy. Formal employment falls, informal employment rises, gross fixed investment and capital formation plummet—yet promises of investment flood official fanfare. The Economist makes it crystal clear: “Mexico’s broken economy.” Applause from the business community continues unabated, despite 0.8% growth projected for 2025—the “worst growth since the pandemic.” The report is devastating; comparisons with Brazil or Turkey are painful. Economic stagnation—officially denied—is insufficient to keep pace with demographics, even though the population is no longer growing at a faster rate. The decline is visible on the streets: drivers, motorcyclists, and even official vehicles disregard traffic signals. From 2019 to 2025, motorcycle fatalities have increased by 160%. It is a mockery and contempt of citizens toward citizens
The reign of impunity is consolidating on all fronts. No one is held accountable for the spills, fires, fraud, or thefts. Politics reflects the ethics of politicians and citizens. If the leadership is corrupt and cynical, the signals it sends will be corrupt and cynical.
They call them “days of remembrance.” It is time to confront Mexico’s degradation.
Further Reading: