“Mexicans Are Always Supportive and Fraternal”: Sheinbaum Responds to U.S. Actress Viola Davis

“Honor to whom honor is due,” said Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo during her morning press conference when asked about comments made by American actress Viola Davis, who expressed her respect and praised the President’s acts of assistance through a post on her Instagram account.

The award-winning actress and producer from South Carolina wrote: “Mexico’s President just sent rescue teams to Texas. After all the hate, after all the anti-immigrant policies, after all the racism toward brown people. She still helped. She still showed up. She still did the right thing to a red state that wouldn’t do the same for her. That’s leadership. That’s power. That’s a woman.” She added: “Much respect, Madam President of Mexico.”

In response, President Sheinbaum made it clear that the recognition belongs to the people of Mexico, as they are inherently supportive and fraternal.

“That is what the people of Mexico are about. That’s our culture. Mexicans are always supportive and fraternal. What’s reflected in firefighters who go and risk their lives, like they did in California to save others, is the essence of the Mexican people—it is humanism,” she emphasized.

In this context, Sheinbaum acknowledged the firefighters from Acuña, Coahuila, who traveled to Kerr County, Texas, to assist with search and rescue efforts following the catastrophic rains that submerged communities across central Texas.

The firefighters were named one by one:

Javier Alvarado Lumbreras, Cristopher Abraham Herrera, Roel Delgado Martínez, José Omar Llanas Hernández, Aldo Ortiz Rodríguez, Mario Alberto Linares, Guillermo Samuel Quiroz, Javier Isaac Alvarado, and Jesús Eduardo Salas Ibarra.

Also recognized were Ismael Aldaba Flores, Miguel Ángel González, Jesús Gómez Arizpe, and Jorge Fuentes, members of the 911 Foundation, who worked alongside the Coahuila rescue team in multiple aid efforts.

Acknowledgment was also extended to the Mayor of Acuña, Coahuila, Emilio de Hoyos.

Sheinbaum also announced that her government has been in contact—via the Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE)—with both the Texas State Government and the U.S. Department of State to offer further support.

“We’ll provide everything that is needed to support our neighbors in a tragic situation like the one they are facing,” Sheinbaum reiterated.

The President reported that a Mexican national died as a result of the severe flooding, and a family member of the deceased is currently missing. She stated that the Mexican Consulate in San Antonio is already in contact with the victims’ relatives.

So far, U.S. authorities have reported that at least 108 people have died due to the floods in Texas, most of them in Kerr County, where 28 children lost their lives. Many of them were at the beloved Camp Mystic when the floods struck early on July 4.

Related: Young Mexican Women Save 20 Girls from Drowning During Floods at Camp Mystic in Texas