Mexico’s new UK ambassador from ‘party of poor’ has 10 houses and £1m of jewellery

Original article by Oscar Lopez in Mexico City

With his million-dollar jewellery collection and his two Rolls-Royces, Mexico’s new ambassador to the UK will fit right in with the Mayfair crowd.

Former attorney general Alejandro Gertz Manero was appointed to the post by President Claudia Sheinbaum last year, but only recently disclosed his financial assets.

The list includes 10 houses, seven cars, including two Rolls-Royces – one worth $150,000 (£115,000) – jewellery worth over $1m and an art collection valued at nearly half a million dollars.

He also reported bank accounts in Mexico, the US, Spain and Switzerland, and owns a property in the US worth over $1m and a flat in Madrid bought for €1m (£860,000). In the public filing, Gertz Manero said many of the assets were inherited.

In Mexico, wealthy politicians are nothing new and, as corruption is commonplace, there is an intense focus on the lifestyles of public officials.

But the ambassador’s opulent assets stand in stark contrast to the governing Morena party (to which he belongs), which has long held the motto: “For the good of all, first the poor.”

Morena “have associated themselves with austerity historically as part of their political platform”, said Viri Ríos, a public policy expert and the director of Mexico Decoded. “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.”

The party founder and former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a close ally of Gertz Manero, was famed for driving around in an old sedan and advocating for “Franciscan austerity”. He also slashed his own salary and gave up the lavish presidential residence and private jet.

“There can be no rich government if the people are poor,” López Obrador often said, a phrase picked up by Sheinbaum.

But Gertz Manero is hardly the first Morena politician to be ensnared in scandal for luxury taste: the party has been plagued by numerous instances of its members caught wearing expensive clothing or watches and travelling to exotic destinations.

Last year, the former president’s son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, caused outrage when he was spotted at a $400-a-night hotel in Tokyo. A local news outlet later reported that the political scion spent $2,600 at a hotel restaurant.

In a public letter posted to Instagram, López Beltrán admitted to the trip but said he used his own money, and called the incident “a political lynching campaign steeped in hatred, classism and slander”.

The scandal erupted months after Morena issued new party guidelines advocating for “austerity” and stating that “displays of material ostentation such as jewellery, designer clothing, high-value properties or cars, luxury restaurants or tourism” ran counter to its principles.

Also last year, the local news outlet N+ reported that Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández, another close ally of López Obrador, had received nearly $4.5m in private income in 2023 and 2024, prompting a furore.

López Hernández admitted to receiving 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, who was also photographed at the store, 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 also attracted criticism online for posting a TikTok video of himself on a private jet wearing luxury clothes. The party later opened an investigation.

According to Ríos, the outrage triggered by these scandals is less about politicians being personally rich and more about instances where their opulent tastes far exceed their government salaries – something that could prove costly come 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,” Ríos added.