New Mexican Ambassador to UK Declares 10 Homes, Million-Dollar Jewelry Amid Party’s ‘For the Poor’ Slogan

Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico’s newly appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom, has drawn attention after publicly declaring his personal assets for the first time. According to records, he owns 10 houses, seven cars—including two Rolls-Royces, one valued at $150,000—a jewelry collection worth over $1 million, and an art collection estimated at nearly half a million dollars. He also reported bank accounts in Mexico, the U.S., Spain, and Switzerland, a U.S. real estate property worth over $1 million, and an apartment in Madrid purchased for €1 million.

In his asset declaration, Mr. Gertz Manero stated that most of his wealth came from inheritance. However, his ostentatious wealth stands in sharp contrast to the image of the ruling Morena party, of which he is a member. Morena has long been associated with the slogan ‘For the benefit of all, the poor come first’ and an advocacy for austerity.

‘Morena has tied itself to austerity as part of its political platform,’ said Viri Ríos, a public policy expert and director of Mexico Decoded. ‘What is happening is a contradiction between what Morena calls for in its discourse and the reality that the party is a collection of officials, politicians, and figures from all classes and levels of wealth.’

The party’s founder, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was known for driving an old sedan and championing ‘Franciscan austerity.’ He cut his own salary and abandoned the luxurious presidential mansion, often saying, ‘There cannot be a rich government if the people are poor.’

Yet Mr. Gertz Manero is not the first Morena politician embroiled in scandal over an extravagant lifestyle. The party has been repeatedly rocked by revelations of members wearing expensive clothes, luxury watches, and traveling to exotic destinations. Most recently, the former president’s son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, caused outrage when he was spotted at a $400-per-night hotel in Tokyo. A local media outlet later reported he spent $2,600 at a restaurant inside the hotel.

In a public Instagram letter, López Beltrán acknowledged the trip but said it was financed with his own money, calling the incident ‘a smear campaign filled with hatred, classism, and slander.’ This scandal came months after Morena issued new party guidelines endorsing ‘austerity’ and stating that ‘material displays such as jewelry, designer clothes, high-value assets or cars, upscale restaurants or travel’ are contrary to party principles.

Also last year, Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández, a close ally of López Obrador, was found to have received nearly $4.5 million in private income during 2023 and 2024. He admitted the sum, telling reporters, ‘Besides my public service, I also provide legal services; all my income is declared, as shown in my tax returns… I have never hidden my income.’

Last month, another of the former president’s sons, José Ramón López Beltrán, was photographed at a Cartier store in Cancún. His wife later posted on Instagram that ‘differences of opinion should never become personal attacks, smear campaigns, or hate campaigns built around a simple photo.’

Just weeks ago, a local Morena politician in Tulum drew criticism on social media for posting a TikTok video showing him on a private jet wearing designer clothes. The party later launched an investigation.

According to Ms. Ríos, the outrage over these scandals has less to do with politicians being personally wealthy and more to do with cases where their lavish lifestyles far exceed public salaries. She argued that Morena ‘made a strategic mistake by associating any kind of wealth with a lack of ethics’ and that if that is the party’s stance, ‘they should have prevented anyone very wealthy from joining the movement from the start.’