Salinas centers bailout rebuttal on an $80 million share purchase

The businessman says Elektra paid banks for Salinas y Rocha, rather than receiving a benefit from Mexico's bank rescue.

MexicoStory of November 12, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of Azteca Noticias's most watched videos since yesterday, with 138,081 views.

Azteca Noticias: The news division of TV Azteca, a Mexican television network of the Salinas group. 5M subscribers and 4.9B views.

Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego responde a los señalamientos realizados desde Palacio Nacional

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:17Salinas disputes Sheinbaum's account of the connection between Fobaproa, Salinas y Rocha and Elektra.
1:40He traces Salinas y Rocha's family origins before explaining Elektra's development.
3:29He says Salinas y Rocha's financial crisis led its shares to pass to its creditor banks.
4:08He says Elektra paid $80 million for those shares in 1999, denying an improper bailout benefit.
6:06He displays information requests seeking disclosure of Fobaproa records and the rescue's beneficiaries.

Buying shares from banks is not the same as receiving bailout money: that is the distinction Ricardo Salinas Pliego makes in his response to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum over the acquisition of Salinas y Rocha.

In footage carried by Mexico's Azteca Noticias, the Grupo Salinas chairman disputes remarks he says Sheinbaum made at her morning press conference about Elektra's connection to Fobaproa, the bank-rescue fund. The broadcaster is itself part of Grupo Salinas, whose businesses include retail, financial services and media.

Fobaproa was used during Mexico's 1995 peso crisis to support the banking system. The dispute in this video concerns how Salinas y Rocha's debts and its subsequent sale fit into that history.

Salinas gives his account of the transaction after tracing the retailer's origins in his family and the development of Elektra. He says Salinas y Rocha borrowed from a group of banks, encountered financial trouble during the crisis and ultimately saw its shares pass into those banks' hands.

According to his explanation, Elektra then paid $80 million to acquire the shares in 1999. He argues that this made Elektra a purchaser paying money to the banks, not an improper beneficiary of the rescue. His account distinguishes the banks' loan claims against Salinas y Rocha from the shares Elektra bought.

The upload presents his rebuttal rather than a side-by-side examination of the transaction or a response from the presidency. His denial and explanation remain his account of the disputed deal.

Near the end, Salinas holds up copies of information requests addressed to IPAB, Mexico's deposit-insurance agency; CNBV, the banking and securities regulator; and the civil-society organization Fundar. He calls for the Fobaproa records to be opened so the beneficiaries of the rescue can be identified.