Ricardo Salinas Pliego,
Mexico's fifth richest man and owner of Grupo Salinas (which includes companies such as TV Azteca, Elektra, and Banco Azteca), has been at the center of intense fiscal and political controversy in the last weeks of November 2025. The climax was a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) requiring him to pay tax credits of 48.326 million pesos (approximately $2.6 billion rounded) to the Tax Administration Service (SAT),
a debt accumulated over 17 years for alleged fraud and tax noncompliance.
Salinas Pliego had filed more than 1,000 legal appeals to avoid payment, including injunctions and appeals in all courts. This has been described as a "never-ending battle" by the tax authorities, who accuse him of using the judicial system to delay payment.
That's right, Salinas Pliego, aided by the neoliberal economic system and the corrupt governments of the PRI and PAN, not only evaded taxes, but also took over state-owned companies and amassed a huge fortune that in part is suspected to have been achieved through money laundering in casinos and online gambling sites.
The beginning of the end of Salinas' corruption came when Andrés Manuel López Obrador became president. In March 2024, AMLO revealed that, at the request of Ricardo Salinas Pliego himself, his government reviewed the tax case and offered him a legal solution. The debt at that time was estimated at around 26,000 million pesos (approximately $1.3 billion at the exchange rate at the time) AMLO offered him a legal discount of 8,000 million pesos, (approximately $900 million). This included the elimination of surcharges, fines, and accrued interest,
but Salinas rejected the proposal, opting to continue the litigation in the Judiciary.
On November 13, in a historic session, the Court dismissed seven of the nine appeals filed by Grupo Salinas, thus confirming the validity of the tax credits. Salinas Pliego immediately used his television platform (TV Azteca) and social media to portray himself as a victim and accuse Claudia Sheinbaum's government of political persecution.
Sheinbaum celebrated the ruling in her morning press conference as "justice, plain and simple," emphasizing that ministers "owe it to the people."
She linked Salinas to an alleged disinformation network (including social media accounts) behind "Generation Z" marches scheduled for November 15, estimated to cost 90 million pesos in campaign funds. She warned that if he does not pay, "legal proceedings" will be initiated to seize assets.
The U.S. Embassy denied any "persecution" against Salinas, clarifying that there is no bilateral follow-up on the tax case. In fact, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, through his companies
, faces a principal debt with U.S. investors and creditors arising from bonds issued in 2017. This is not a tax debt, but rather a civil lawsuit for default on payments.
At the end of September, Ricardo Salinas Pliego paid a $25 million bond to avoid arrest in the United States.
Political and financial experts point out that what Sheinbaum's government did was the right thing, given that it preempted the US court ruling against Salinas, thus ensuring that vulture funds would not take over the businessman's companies.
Salinas is the kind of parasite who would rather see Mexico burn than accept defeat. It comes as no surprise that he and the opposition are financing the color revolution that is Gen-Z Mexico. (Basically, the conservative right-wing opposition is using young liberals to attack the left-wing government... yeah it is crazy)
It is well known that the international right wing aligns itself with religious symbols, and in the case of Mexico, the Marian image of Guadalupe, which was taken up by Vicente Fox, is now being raised by Salinas Pliego in an effort to attract the masses of Guadalupe believers to his cause. This mass is composed mainly of low-income, poor people who are not only consumers of TV Azteca programs and Elektra stores but also dependents on the pensions granted by the Sheinbaum government.
