The Mexican Government Is Attempting to End the Use of Cash

The Mexican government believes they can put an end to the use of cash in Mexico, a country where 80 to 90% of transactions are done in cash. That is coming from my latest report for The Last American Vagabond titled The Mexican Government Is Close to Approving a Law Aimed at Removing the Use of Cash. And by the way, in case you didn't know, I am a weekly contributor to T-Lav. You can go to thelastamericanvagabond.com. You can check out my author page where you can see all of my previous articles, including the one we're going to cover today. As I said, The Mexican government is close to approving a law aimed at removing the use of cash. Will an effort to limit and eventually ban cash payments work in a nation where 80 to 90% of payments are made in cash? Well, that's what the government is trying to do. So about a month ago, I did a report updating you guys on the ongoing situation relating to the Mexican government trying to force people to register their phones with their identities, which I know some of you don't understand or maybe not realize that this is a practice that even if it's already standard in your home country, many places around the world. Mexico was one of the few countries remaining where you could go to the local gas station and buy an anonymous SIM card, put it in a phone, and use that service without showing ID, without showing your name, taking a selfie, any of those sort of things. The government has been trying to put an end to that, and they are now disconnecting people's phone lines who are not registered. Well, that's one piece of this sort of technocratic shift that is taking place in Mexico. And, you know, I'll just say this real personally before we get into the article. You guys also know that I moved to Mexico in 2020, March 2020, and I did so because I believe, and I still believe, that Mexico is going to be slower to embrace much of the technocracy. Yes, even with what I'm sharing with you today, that the Mexican government has been cutting off phone lines, that the Mexican government is trying to limit the use of cash, the reality is that Mexico does not have the infrastructure nationwide to implement something like this. Sure, they've got cities like Mexico City and Monterrey and all the tourist spots that are going to be the first to go along with these types of programs, without a doubt. But there are still many, many places, big and small towns, tiny villages, rural areas in the mountainsides and in the countrysides that do not have the infrastructure to put an end to cash and to embrace all digital payments. And the Mexican government doesn't have the ability to police all of those places if some small town wants to continue to operate using cash, even if the Mexican government claims it's illegal. So I still believe Mexico is a safe place for the future. This is where I'm invested. This is where I've moved my life. I am living here. I have land and we're building a community. I'm all in. So this has not changed my beliefs on that, just in case you are curious. But it is still something worthy of concern and it's worthy of my journalistic effort. And that's why I put together this article. So let's go ahead and break it down. On Wednesday, this past Wednesday, the Mexican government came closer to passing a law that would begin the process of phasing out cash payments and requiring digital payments. That's one thing I want to make clear. This is not going to happen overnight. This is a law that would instruct the government to come up with rules and decide which sectors of life and society would need to go completely digital and start limiting the use of cash. This doesn't mean that cash everywhere would be abolished. This doesn't mean that cash would automatically become useless overnight or anything of that sort. But it is absolutely an effort to push Mexico further into the digital digitization of the world. This so-called digital economy law was first introduced by President Claudia Sheinbaum in early September, and it has since moved rapidly through official commissions and through the Chamber of Deputies, and it now awaits a full vote by the Mexican Senate. Most recently, on October 14th, this Wednesday, the bill passed out of 2 Senate commissions, and it now awaits the full Senate vote. So this bill is part of an ongoing effort that we've really seen accelerated under Sheinbaum's government. It has been happening for decades, efforts to do things like this, you know, slowly trickling in. But in the last couple years with Sheinbaum in office, it seems to be rapidly happening for sure. And so the bill instructs Mexico's Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the SHCP, to designate which business sectors will eventually only accept digital and electronic forms of payment. So as I said, it's not going to happen overnight. Now, Mexico also, you might not know this, already has different existing digital payment systems. There's one called SPEI, Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios, and Kodi and Demo. These are 2 different types of digital payment systems built on SPEI, the first one I just mentioned, but they're not really popular. I mean, there's millions of people registered for them, but I've never heard anybody talking about this. I've never seen anybody pull out the Kodi app or the Demo app or any of this sort of things like that, but they're out there. The Digital Economy Law, this new law that was introduced in September by Sheinbaum, is an effort to try to increase the use of such digital payment platforms. But as I said, according to some estimates, the banks themselves say that 80% to 90% of Mexicans use cash and transactions are done in cash, especially, as I said, in the rural areas. Yes, in the big cities, people are using cards and debit cards, and they're not even— they're kind of already embracing the digital life. Maybe they're paying with their phone. But there are still many, many places where cash is still king, and I love it. So it remains to be seen how this is going to be implemented and enforced. In fact, some critics of the bill have said that the language of the bill does not make it clear which type of businesses will be compelled to only accept digital payments. So they're basically— what it feels like to me is that the Mexican government is trying to test the waters, and they're putting out this idea that, hey, we're going to go full-on digital at some point. We're not telling you which sectors yet. We're not telling you the timeline. And another important point I found is there's also no penalties listed in the bill, at least in its current form. to tell you what happens if a business says, you know what, we're going to keep taking cash. Sure, we'll do your digital thing, but we're going to keep taking cash. There's no mention of what business owners will be fined or they're going to go to prison for a year or anything like that. So, it's kind of what they would say in legal terms is this is a bill with no teeth, no enforcement mechanism, at least at the moment. So, it could really just be for show that this is making it clear, telegraphing that Mexico wants to go in this direction, but in reality, they know they don't currently have the capacity to do so. That's kind of my read on the situation. Sheinbaum is, of course, saying this is going to make life better and more simple for people. At a press conference in September, September 24th, she mentioned this first mention of the bill, and she said that her and the Morena party are using the law to, quote, help security efficiency and the formalization of shops and products by digitizing payments and reducing the use of cash. And you also had José Antonio Peña Marino, who is the head of Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency. He also spoke at that press conference and he said that this will accelerate digital payments. And they have made, made a mention in the past that the strategic sectors that they're focused on is gas stations and toll booths. They basically have said that they're going to try to start in those sectors by the end of the year. And again, I do not see how that's going to happen. I travel across Mexico. In fact, in about a week I'm going to be driving back to Texas, and along the way I'm going to hit a bunch of toll booths that if you want to go on the paid roads, you can on the free roads, if you want to go on the paid roads, which typically are more secure and better taken care of, you know, it's like $50 of tolls from here, Central Mexico to Houston to get to Texas. Those places absolutely take cash. And I cannot see how they're all of a sudden just going to overnight force people to only pay in digital means. And then the other thing that I love about Mexico, the fact of the matter is that bribes and things are common. And I guarantee you that even if they told some toll booth worker, hey, you're not allowed to accept cash anymore, only digital payments, if I showed up there and I said, look, I got to go through, man, I don't have any digital means. Can I just slip you 50 extra pesos or 100 extra pesos and you take my payment and let me through? I guarantee you Mexicans will do that. They will take money under the table if it means that they can continue to feed their families. I, so I don't see this, as I said earlier, happening overnight. Nevertheless, the bill is making its way through, guys, and it does seem like it's going to become law in the next couple of weeks. Now here's how it works. Once it goes through the Senate vote, which the Morena party pretty much controls the whole Senate, so it's going to pass, then Sheinbaum signs it, then it gets put into the official federal diary, which, you know, where all laws go. And then after that, the ministry has 15 days to come up with rules and to designate which specific sectors they're going to focus on. Like I said, they're probably going to focus on tollbooths and gas stations. We'll see if they can actually implement it. But the point is, then after it's signed, after it's put into the official books, they have 15 days to come up with those rules and then another 15 days for those specific sectors and the legal authorities in those sectors to come up with rules about how they're going to implement it. So allegedly, once this gets signed, which is probably going to happen in the next week or two, there'll be 30 days before the rules are announced, and then that becomes the law of the land. Now, are they actually going to be able to implement it? I don't think so. But I did include at the bottom of my article a reference to what is taking place in India, because India is a comparable country to Mexico in the sense that it has a large population, And that it also has poverty, and also that it is an economy that has largely been dependent on cash, and it has a large informal underground counter-economy. And for those of you who followed my activism and my philosophical anarchist work, you know that I talk about agorism or exit and build, talking about building parallel economies, counter-economies. This to me is why I love Mexico and why I appreciate places like India and Southeast Asia. Because there is a huge part of the economy that is untaxed, untraced, and under the table. And that is what they are coming after. This is why the banksters are in Mexico. This is why people like Bill Gates and others have said, we got to get those poor Indian and Mexican farmers, get them a digital ID. Digital ID is a human right. We got to get them into the systems, get them a bank account, the poor unbanked people, because they see it as a flaw that these people are not part of the system. Whereas the agorists and the anarchists and myself, we say, look, there's strength in being outside of the system. If you're in the informal economy, economy, that means they can't find you. That means they can't tax you. But once everything goes digital and they put you into the mainstream economy, the white market, then things are taxable. There's a record. There's a digital record of everything. They know what you're doing. They can turn you off. So, I find a lot of strength and value in the informal economy, and I hope that more and more people will realize that there's strength in being outside of these systems. Nevertheless, India is a potential model for what Mexico might do, and in 2016, India introduced the UPI, Unified Payments Interface, which was launched by the Central Bank of India. And this was a method for conducting digital electronic payments. And so 10 years later, 2026, billions of Indians use this UPI system for payments. But this transition didn't happen overnight. It wasn't instant. But one of the ways the Indian government tried to accelerate it was by making certain physical bills dollar notes, digital notes— excuse me, physical notes, cash notes illegal. So, November 8th, 2016, India's Prime Minister Modi, he announced that the existing $500 and $1,000 banknotes would cease to be accepted overnight. Basically, he said, like, by tonight at midnight, those $500 bills you have in your pocket and the $1,000 bills you have in your pocket, those are no longer useful. And those 2 denominations were used by 90% of the people. And so, this led to severe cash shortages and a sharp increase in the use of digital payments, which I think is what they wanted. They used this sort of like, okay, we're going to just take some of the dollars or the physical bills out of circulation, and that'll compel people to start using digital means. Mexico hasn't announced anything like that yet, but they might in the future. That would be one way to potentially force this on the people. So we will see. Now, the last thing I want to mention, because I know a lot of you out there make a big deal about Sheinbaum, that she has a Jewish last name. There is a population of Jewish people that live in Mexico and have been there for generations. And so I know some of you, you're obsessed with the Jews. So you automatically, you see that and you think that means, you know, bad things. Well, in this case, it's true. And I would also say what's more concerning is that she seems to largely be a puppet for the international banking class, like every single president of every single country around the world, except for the few that are resisting, maybe in the Middle East. But in March is the first time that Claudia Sheinbaum made this plan clear. And this was at what's called the 89th Banking Convention. It was held in Cancun. And this is when she first announced it. She said, quote, Our goal is that this year we make it mandatory to pay for gasoline and toll booths digitally. This will allow us to promote accessible digital payments that allow us to advance the digitization of the country through many other schemes. So she said this at a conference surrounded by former Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, representatives from Banorte, BBVA, Scotiabank, Santander, HSBC, and Mexico's central bank, not to mention representatives from the Bank of International Settlements. And if you've watched the Pyramid of Power, Chapter 11, I believe, on banking. You understand the importance of the BIS. And finally, she also said this in front of Sergio Mendez, who is the director of BlackRock Mexico. So at this banking convention in Cancun in March, it was made quite clear that Mexico is going to go in this direction. And Sheinbaum told them, this is what we're going to do. Fast forward to September, she introduces the bill, and it's been moving rapidly through commissions, through, you know, the Chamber of Deputies, and now it's headed to the Senate, and it eventually formed. to her office for her signature. That's where we are in October 17th, 2026 right now. And so this is happening in Mexico. Now, I've seen some of you commenting on my article and immediately jumping like, oh my God, we're screwed. Why didn't I come to Mexico? Or some of you've been saying, oh, I thought Mexico was land of freedom. I thought about going there. I'm not coming. A couple thoughts on that as we wrap this up. If you think running away is the answer, whether you're running away to Mexico, the United States, UK, Australia, Africa, anywhere else in the world, You're already on the wrong path, my friend. Running away is not the answer. I did not run away to Mexico. I came to Mexico because I see the opportunity for a better life, a more affordable life, a more free life in many ways. And because, as I said, I think that they're behind in terms of the technocracy. Despite everything I've shared with you today, I don't think it's going to happen overnight. I think it might take 10 or more years for them to implement this. So if you are running away, you're already on the wrong path, my friend. Don't run away. Otherwise, you will just keep running for the rest of your life. So don't come to Mexico. If you are coming in a fear and a panic and a running away mentality, don't run to anywhere in that way. But if you are trying to build the better world that you know is possible, if you're trying to build your Liberation 2030 instead of, you know, just running away and being afraid of Agenda 2030, then you're on the right path. So for me, Mexico is still my home. It's going to continue to be my home. This is where we're going to build our community. I'm starting to build my house next, in the next couple months. Really excited about that. But these are things to be aware of. And this also is why it's so important to continue to use cash, especially if you are living in a place where, like the United States, yeah, cash is accepted, cash is still available, but there are many, many businesses who are choosing to say no longer accepting cash. There are many governmental services which are becoming increasingly digitized, and that is one of the ways that they will force you to comply. This is the same thing we're going to see in Mexico. If you're dependent on social welfare programs, if you're dependent on your veterans check, your 401, your pension, what have you, and that comes through a bank, And that comes through a government. Well, my friends, they've already got you by the balls and by the ovaries. Okay, they can squeeze you and they can compel you to comply. But the more free you are from these systems, the easier it is to say no. And so, no matter what they announce, no matter what they think they're going to push through, keep focusing on building your liberation 2030. Learn more about exit and build strategy by going to theconsciousresistance.com/exb and continue to build the parallel systems that are going to be necessary as these psychopaths try to. Build the technocratic control grid. That's my message to you guys. Thank you so much for watching today. If you enjoyed this report, please go to theconsciousresistance.com/invest. See if you want to become a member of my Buy Me a Coffee or my Substack. You get exclusive live streams, you get to vote on my investigations. Or if you want to support by buying a shirt, that's one of the other best ways to support us. We've got all kinds of shirts. You can see the different designs on the website, and you can see we've even got women's shirts now available Check that all out. It's listed in the show notes. And if you can't do any of that, please just continue to listen. Please continue to support my work. Share it where you can. And until next time, my friends, remember, you are powerful, you are beautiful, and you are free. Peace.

Since 2012, the Conscious Resistance Network has been an independent media organization focused on empowering individuals through education, philosophy, health, and community organizing. We work to create a world where corporate and state power do not rule over the lives of free human beings. Our motto is leading by example and helping others in their pursuit of freedom. Visit theconsciousresistance.com to find our articles, documentaries, interviews, podcasts, books, and more. Remember, you are powerful, you are beautiful, and you are free.