Mexico, like many places around the world, has numerous immensely imaginative one-liners to characterize corruption. Here is a sample:
- “El que no transa, no avanza” (“Whoever doesn’t trick or cheat, gets nowhere”)
- “No roba, pero se le pega el dinero” (“He doesn’t steal, but money sticks to him”
- “Fulano de tal es honesto, pero honesto, honesto, honesto, ¿quién sabe?” (“So-and-so is honest; but honest, honest, honest, who knows?”
- “Político pobre, pobre político” (“A politician in poverty is a poor politician”)
- “No les pido que me den, sólo que me pongan donde hay” (“I am not asking for money, just to be appointed where I can get some”)
- “Vivir fuera del presupuesto es vivir en el error” (“To live outside the federal budget is to live in error”)
- “Amistad que no se refleja en la nómina no es amistad” (“A friendship that is not reflected in the payroll is no friendship at all”)
- “Con dinero baila el perro, si está amaestrado” (“Properly paid and trained, a dog will dance”)
- “No les cambies las ideas, cambiales los ingresos” (Don’t bother to change their ideas, just change their incomes”)
Source: Manana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans
