By Pedro Salvador Guerrero
The following is an English translation[1] from today’s “Detector de Mentiras”[2]. This week’s segment focuses on dishonest claims about the judicial election, false reports of the closing of consulates and refugee offices, Middle East battle videos wrongly labeled as Mexican conflicts, and AI-generated untrue reports about American companies.
Transcript translation:
As June 1st approaches, the day of the judicial election, a misinforming chorus of “comentócratas”[3], media outlets, and politicians are ramping up their attacks against this democratic exercise with the same lies they used to try to prevent judicial reform, which, incidentally, was mandated by the Mexican people at the ballot box. What interests do those who attack democracy with lies pursue?
Furthermore, despite the Senate’s declaration that discussions on the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law are being held in the Senate, lies against this law continue. There are even commentators who, in full exercise of their freedom of expression, claim that this right is in danger, without realizing that by making these statements, they confirm that we live in a democracy where the government guarantees this right. Let’s watch this week’s lie detector video:
False alarms about the supposed imposition of a dictatorship in Mexico. Fake news about laws to eliminate SAT tax returns. These are some of the fake news stories that the lie detector detected this week.
1. From May 5 to 13, opposition commentators and politicians, including Sergio Sarmiento, León Krause, Enrique Krause, Héctor Aguilar Camín, Carlos Marín, Francisco Martín Moreno, José Ramón Cosío Díaz, José Narro Robles, and Francisco Garfias, published 18 opinion columns against the judicial election with three lines of misinformation:
A. The judicial election will lead to a dictatorship.
Lie!
Judicial elections do not eliminate the separation of powers. They grant citizens powers that were previously exclusive to the executive and legislative branches to elect ministers, magistrates, and judges by vote.
B. The judicial election generates economic uncertainty. “But it also shook the justice system, the judicial system, and that doesn’t create certainty. On the contrary. There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of nervousness. Who in their right mind would want to invest under conditions that are shifting, that are changing, that are volatile? It depends on the moods of the Fourth Transformation.” “I’m convinced, and I’m convinced that they’re already experiencing it today. I mean, if you talk to investors, I think I’ve heard that the impact of judicial reform is much stronger than that of Trump.”
Lie!
As of May 8, 2025, one month before the judicial election, the Mexican government maintained an investment portfolio in the country totaling $298 billion, which includes 1,937 active projects distributed across the country’s 32 states.
C. In the judicial election, Morena candidates will win.
Lie!
The candidates who will participate in the judicial election were selected by evaluation committees made up of representatives of the three branches of the Union.
Article 96 of the Constitution prohibits political parties from engaging in proselytizing and taking a position for or against any candidate in judicial elections.
2. From May 5 to 13, opposition politicians and commentators such as Denise Dresser, León Krause, Pascal Beltrán del Río, Carolina Villano, Ignacio Morales Lechuga, and the Templo Mayor editorial published 10 opinion columns against the telecommunications bill, falsely claiming it will lead to censorship in Mexico. “Experts and opponents describe this first discussion on the censorship law as a simulation. Even some Morena allies see a lack of openness to listening to other types of arguments.”
Lie!
Contrary to what opposition politicians and commentators have published in the media and on social media, the telecommunications reform initiative is not authoritarian, nor does it limit freedoms or generate censorship. In Article 191, it guarantees the right to information, freedom of expression, and the reception of content and ensures that no content will be the target of judicial or administrative persecution or investigation, nor any limitation or prior censorship.
3. President Claudia Sheinbaum does not combat organized crime. “…because President Trump is trying to persuade Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum, to cooperate in military action against the cartels. Sheinbaum will not. “[Bill O’Reilly]
Lie!
On February 27, 2025, the Mexican government sent 29 generators of violence requested by the government of this country to the United States, who face charges for high-impact crimes such as drug trafficking, organized crime, fentanyl trafficking, arms trafficking, kidnapping, among others. As part of the zero-impunity security strategy, the following results have been achieved as of May 8: 20,000 people arrested for high-impact crimes, 153.7 tons of drugs seized, including 1,406 kilograms of fentanyl and 2,247,950, as well as the dismantling of 896 clandestine laboratories to produce methamphetamines.
4. The Mexican government failed to act and was negligent in containing the screwworm.
Lie!
Since June 2024, more than 167 million pesos have been allocated to the operation against cattle screwworm. More than 885 million sterile flies have been dispersed to interrupt the reproductive cycle of the fly that transmits the parasite. The head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Verdegué, clarified in the People’s Morning Press Conference on May 13 that the Mexican government has taken all the actions to combat the screwworm that the United States has requested: “They had let us know some things that they wanted us to improve everything. All of them, 100% of the requests, were attended to within hours or, at most, within days, because it is in our interest that the campaign works well, not only for exports, but for the health of our ranchers’ animals.”
5. Morena representatives proposed a law to eliminate SAT[4] refunds.
Lie! No legislative group has proposed amending Article 22 of the Federal Tax Code, which regulates taxpayers’ right to request a refund of outstanding balances and improper payments. As of May 12, the SAT has returned 35.335 billion pesos, 5% more than the amount returned las
[1] This translation provides an English written version of this segment from May 14, 2025, ensuring accessibility for English-speaking or reading audiences interested in Mexican political discourse and media narratives.
[2] “El Detector de Mentiras” (The Lie Detector) is a Wednesday segment from the daily presidential press conference in Mexico, the “Mañanera del Pueblo”, produced by “Infodemia,” and presented by Miguel Ángel Elorza-Vásquez. It is designed to address misinformation in national and international media coverage of Mexico.
[3] Similar to commentariats or punditocrats, “comentócratas” is a concept used colloquially in Mexican politics to refer to the set of political commentators who tend to hold opinions perceived as elitist yet overrepresented in legacy media.
[4] The Tax Administration Service is the revenue service of the Mexican federal government.
Mexican Press Agency is part of ALMA, which is dedicated to news and information about Mexico and Mexicans in the United States and is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Focus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Redwood City, California.
