Loyalty is described as the fulfillment of what fidelity and honor demand. It is one, if not the greatest, virtue par excellence that encompasses many others such as rectitude, nobility, honesty, and commitment.
However, this same greatness must be guarded so as not to be confused with blind love, complicity, or irrational submission. It is valued by all, regardless of their creed, social status, or intellectual quotient.
Mexican politics has always known the value of loyalty, but especially in many rulers and their way of exercising their mandate, loyalty has been perverted. We do not think this only of Morena at the federal or state level; it also happens and has happened in other colors.
It is no longer loyalty to the Constitution, to the law, to citizens, or even to those of their own political party. It is a false loyalty, a loyalty of group, of tribe, and of complicity, which is protected above any complaint, any scandal, and any evidence of corruption.
The mechanism is well known and repeats itself. A complaint appears for abuse of power, for diversion of resources, for nepotism, or for links to shady interests. Public opinion demands an explanation. The opposition calls for an investigation. And instead of sanctioning, the federal government closes ranks.
The president, the secretary, the parliamentary coordinator come out to defend the accused not with legal arguments, but with political ones: it is a media campaign.
This false loyalty operates as an insurance of impunity. As long as the official is useful, as long as they mobilize votes or control a territorial structure, they will be protected.
It does not matter how many investigation files exist in the Attorney General’s Office, which has also been co-opted by the same logic of obedience. It does not matter how many journalistic reports document tailored contracts, shell companies, or the enrichment and inexplicable trips of family members and friends. The directive is clear: our own are not to be touched.
This explains how figures accused of corruption in Segalmex, one of the largest scandals of diversion of public funds in recent history, not only did not set foot in jail, but were relocated to other positions.
How officials accused of harassment, sexual abuse, or gender-based violence were kept as candidates under the pretext that they were victims of political lynching. How governors and former governors with states mired in insecurity and plunder were rewarded with ambassadorships or positions in the federal cabinet.
This protection has a devastating institutional cost. First, it destroys the civil service. What matters is personal closeness and submission. A bureaucracy of unconditional supporters is created that does not know how to say no.
Second, it normalizes corruption. A double moral standard is established: it is unforgivable when done by the adversary, but it is a minor error when done by a colleague. False loyalties are not loyalties; they are pacts of silence.
In the end, this system protects no one. Sooner or later, the accumulation of complaints, abuses of power, and corruption overflows any narrative. Loyalty bought with impunity always ends in betrayal.
Mistaken loyalties can exist in any sphere, from the personal (friends, colleagues, family), to the business, institutional… It is up to us to identify mistaken loyalties and not play along by provoking them or remaining silent.