Read

User menu

Search form

7 Stunning New Details About Walmart's Mexican Bribery Scandal

7 Stunning New Details About Walmart's Mexican Bribery Scandal
Tue, 12/18/2012 - by Kim Bhasin and Ashley Lutz
This article originally appeared on Business Insider

David Barstow and Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab at The New York Times wrote a lengthy expose on Walmart's bribery scandal in Mexico.

The story follows up on Barstow's earlier story about what got Walmart in trouble in the first place. Investigators are looking into the world's biggest retailer's dealings in the country, and some of Walmart's senior management appear to be entangled.

The bribes were paid to win permission to open new stores quickly, and may have totaled more than $24 million, The Times alleged.

Now, more details about Walmart's practices in the country have emerged.

From The Times:

• The Times alleges that Walmart paid bribes of $341,000 to build a Sam's Club in one of the most densely-populated neighborhoods in Mexico City near the Basilica de Guadalupe. The company did this "without a construction license, or an environmental permit, or an urban impact assessment, or even a traffic permit," the NYT writes.

• Walmart allegedly facilitated bribes of $765,000 so it could build "a vast refrigerated distribution center in an environmentally fragile flood basin north of Mexico City, in an area where electricity was so scarce that many smaller developers were turned away."

• In 2003, a zoning map kept Walmart from building a mid-sized supermarket near resident Elda Pineda's alfalfa field in San Juan Teotihuacán, near the site of the famous pyramids. According to the Times, a bribery payment of $52,000 persuaded an official to change the map. Walmart built a store in the field.

• The mayor of Teotihuacan, Guillermo Rodríguez, reported in disclosures that he had no savings and made a salary of only $47,000 per year in 2004, according to the Times. The same year, he paid $30,300 in cash for a ranch and spent another $47,700 cash on improvements to the home.

• Archaeologists began to find evidence that Walmart "was building on ancient ruins. They found the remains of a wall dating to approximately 1300 and enough clay pottery to fill several sacks. Then they found an altar, a plaza and nine graves." A media blitz ensued.

• Locals began publicly protesting that Walmart was allegedly building on ancient ruins.Anonymous sources who worked at Walmart Corporate at the time said that protesters in Mexico were dismissed as "a fringe group, like they were from Occupy Wall Street." The market still opened.

• Emmanuel D’Herrera, a local teacher and poet, became convinced that Walmart was paying bribes and went to the news media. After years of publicly slamming Walmart, D'Herrera made a homemade bomb and set it off in the store. It caused $68 in merchandise damage and knocked him to the ground. He died at the age of 62 while he was waiting for trial.

A Walmart spokesman defended the company, saying that “none of the associates we have interviewed, including people responsible for real estate projects in Mexico during this time period, recall any mention of bribery allegations related to this store."

CEO Mike Duke declined to give any details on the bribery investigation at a recent talk in New York City with Bloomberg president Dan Doctoroff, pending the investigation.

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

From a pro-democratic perspective, civil society and new media organisations are surging in the aftermath of the Orban regime.

The country’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised a break from the politics of the last 40 years—realizing more broadly that Labour must stand up for the 99% against big business, or the party will become irrelevant.

The tragic shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo is just the latest example of ICE having a fundamental disrespect for human life — further proving why the agency should be stripped of funding and shut down, and its rank-and-file agents and leadership prosecuted.

While the U.S., EU and their allies are enabling Rojava—the strongest force against Islamic State— to fall, it is vital for internationalists to continue to support this beacon of democracy and liberation.

June 23, 2026 may be remembered as the beginning of the end of the Democratic Party establishment.

The current wave of food recalls is a direct byproduct of President Donald Trump’s administration deliberately removing the safeguards put in place aimed at protecting American consumers more than a century ago.

From a pro-democratic perspective, civil society and new media organisations are surging in the aftermath of the Orban regime.

We can still celebrate success while simultaneously putting a cap on net worth.

The country’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised a break from the politics of the last 40 years—realizing more broadly that Labour must stand up for the 99% against big business, or the party will become irrelevant.

Much like the resistance to AI data centers, the opposition to Flock surveillance cameras has brought the left and the right together against billionaires who are trying to force America into becoming even more of a police state.

Much like the resistance to AI data centers, the opposition to Flock surveillance cameras has brought the left and the right together against billionaires who are trying to force America into becoming even more of a police state.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

The country’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised a break from the politics of the last 40 years—realizing more broadly that Labour must stand up for the 99% against big business, or the party will become irrelevant.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

We can still celebrate success while simultaneously putting a cap on net worth.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

The current wave of food recalls is a direct byproduct of President Donald Trump’s administration deliberately removing the safeguards put in place aimed at protecting American consumers more than a century ago.

Posted 2 weeks 3 days ago

From a pro-democratic perspective, civil society and new media organisations are surging in the aftermath of the Orban regime.

Posted 2 weeks 5 days ago

From a pro-democratic perspective, civil society and new media organisations are surging in the aftermath of the Orban regime.

The current wave of food recalls is a direct byproduct of President Donald Trump’s administration deliberately removing the safeguards put in place aimed at protecting American consumers more than a century ago.