Mexico's new ambassador to the UK, Alejandro Gertz Manero, has disclosed a personal fortune that includes 10 houses, two Rolls-Royces, and jewellery worth over $1 million, according to a public filing. The former attorney general, appointed by President Claudia Sheinbaum, reported assets that starkly contrast with the governing Morena party's long-standing association with austerity.
Assets include luxury cars and international properties
Gertz Manero's financial disclosure lists seven cars, including two Rolls-Royces—one valued at $150,000 (£115,000)—along with an art collection worth nearly half a million dollars. He also holds bank accounts in Mexico, the US, Spain, and Switzerland, owns a US property worth over $1 million, and a flat in Madrid purchased for €1 million (£860,000). In the filing, Gertz Manero stated that many of these assets were inherited.
The ambassador's wealth stands out given Morena's motto: "For the good of all, first the poor." Party founder and former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a close ally of Gertz Manero, famously drove an old sedan and advocated for "Franciscan austerity," cutting his own salary and eschewing the presidential residence and private jet.
Contradiction between narrative and reality
According to public policy expert Viri Ríos, director of Mexico Decoded, Morena "have associated themselves with austerity historically as part of their political platform. What's been created is a contradiction between what Morena appeals to narratively versus what the party really is, which is a mix of officials, politicians, and personalities of all kinds and levels of wealth."
Gertz Manero is not the first Morena politician to face scrutiny over luxury tastes. The party has seen multiple scandals involving members wearing expensive clothing or watches and traveling to exotic destinations.
Previous scandals highlight party tensions
Last year, López Obrador's son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, sparked outrage after being spotted at a $400-a-night hotel in Tokyo, reportedly spending $2,600 at a hotel restaurant. In a public letter on Instagram, he admitted to the trip but said he used his own money, calling the incident "a political lynching campaign steeped in hatred, classism and slander."
The scandal emerged months after Morena issued new party guidelines advocating for austerity, stating that "displays of material ostentation such as jewellery, designer clothing, high-value properties or cars, luxury restaurants or tourism" run counter to its principles.
Also last year, Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández, another close ally of López Obrador, faced backlash after reports that he received nearly $4.5 million in private income in 2023 and 2024. He admitted to the funds, telling reporters: "Beyond my work as a public official, I also provide legal services; all my income is declared, as shown in the tax returns … I have never hidden my income."
Last month, the former president's other son, José Ramón López Beltrán, was photographed at a Cartier store in Cancún. His wife, Carolyn Adams, later posted on Instagram that "differences of opinion should never become personal attacks, defamation or campaigns of hate built around a simple photograph."
Just weeks ago, a local Morena politician in Tulum faced online criticism for a TikTok video showing him on a private jet wearing luxury clothes; the party opened an investigation.
Strategic error in associating wealth with immorality
According to Ríos, the outrage is less about politicians being personally rich and more about instances where their opulent tastes far exceed government salaries—something that could prove costly at election time. She said Morena had "made a strategic error in associating all types of wealth with a lack of morality. If that's going to be your position, then from the beginning you must prevent anyone who is very wealthy from joining the movement."
