This article by Arturo Daen originally appeared in the May 8, 2026 edition of Sin Embargo.
“I’m working in the United States,” Senator Lilly Téllez, a member of the National Action Party (PAN), responded to questions in the Senate about her absence from a session of the Permanent Commission on May 6. And the figures confirm her statement.
SinEmbargo‘s Data Unit confirmed with records from the Senate that in the last year, Téllez missed seven ordinary sessions to attend events organized by far-right groups in the United States that perpetuate the narrative that Mexico is supposedly suffering from a loss of freedoms and a “narco-government.” These narratives are also repeated time and again by her mentor, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, and they encourage U.S. interference in the country.
Téllez’s most recent absence from the Senate was to attend an event of the conservative organization Lincoln Club of Orange County, California, mentioning in English that every time she travels to the United States she returns to Mexico “with renewed strength”.
In her speech, she asked her “American friends” to speak “clearly about the nature of the regime” they are dealing with, referring to the government of Claudia Sheinbaum. “This is not a normal democratic government with which they simply disagree; it is an authoritarian project,” one, she said, that “aligns itself with terrorists and anti-American powers.”
Senator Lilly Téllez was asked about her absences from the Senate, how she justifies them, and she responded that she has always acted in accordance with the regulations of the Senate of the Republic, although it states that only absences due to illness; legislative work or participation in official acts; unforeseen circumstances or force majeure, or obtaining written permission granted by the President of the Board of Directors are considered justified.
In an interview with SinEmbargo, Senator Julieta Ramírez, from the Morena party, criticized the trips of the PAN senator to the United States and the narratives she promotes.
“What she does is request the intervention of the American authorities in Mexican territory, and she does it by going abroad and participating in foreign media,” said Senator Julieta Ramírez of the Morena party.
“That’s called treason, and it’s a crime clearly defined in Mexican law. It’s outdated legislation; these types of trials are no longer used due to current political culture and changing times. However, this case fits perfectly… her only motives are foreign interference in matters that are the country’s responsibility. Furthermore, this reflects the fact that she doesn’t have an institutional agenda; it shows that her motivations are purely for media attention and spectacle,” she added.
Téllez denied that she pays for her trips to the United States with Senate funds, to which Senator Ramírez responded: “Then who pays for those trips? Salinas Pliego? Even worse.”
Another right-wing figure, the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, also faced criticism in her country for traveling abroad to promote herself. When she traveled to Mexico, Spanish legislators questioned the cost of her trip and her public statements.
Lilly Tellez’s Events with Far-Right Groups in the US
Between July 2025 and May 2026, Senator Lilly Téllez traveled to the United States at least five times, according to her social media posts. On July 31, she posted a photograph of herself outside the Fox News facilities in Washington.
Then on September 24, 2025, the PAN senator also participated in Washington in the US-Mexico Policy Summit of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization that forged the document “Project 2025”, identified as a guide for Trump’s policies, against migrants, minorities and the right of women to decide about their bodies, among other aspects.
To attend that event, Téllez was absent from the sessions on September 23 and 24. The Senate website states that she had a “justified absence,” although the reason is not specified.
Later, on March 20, 2026, the senator attended a security summit in Miami, also hosted by the Heritage Foundation. There, she applauded Trump’s designation of the cartels as terrorist organizations, asserting that criminal groups govern Mexico, and stating that with Morena’s “socialism,” “we lost democracy and we lost the Republic; that’s not an exaggeration, this is now a tyranny.”
Téllez’s participation in that event coincided with her absence from the Senate on March 18 and 19, dates on which her absence was again listed as justified, without specifying the reason. On those days, a reform to the General Law on the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples was voted on , as well as permission for members of the Navy to train at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi, United States .
On April 8, Téllez attended the Texas Policy Summit in Austin, Texas, an organization that on its social media advocates for removing Marxism from schools, defends ICE and its actions against migrants, despite the abuses committed, and also insists on the narrative that supposedly the cartels govern Mexico.
“I won’t be going to the Senate tomorrow; I’m out of Mexico,” Téllez posted on her Instagram account. On that occasion, she was absent from the Senate on April 7 and 8, the day of a double session in which the ratification of Roberto Velasco as Secretary of Foreign Affairs was voted on.
Her most recent appearance in the United States was on May 6. She skipped the Senate Standing Committee session and then posted her participation in English at an event hosted by the conservative Lincoln Club of Orange County, California.
Lilly Téllez’s Activities in the US
- July 31, 2025. Visit to the Fox News facilities in Washington. No Senate session.
- September 24, 2025. US-Mexico Policy Summit of the Heritage Foundation in Washington . Absent from the Senate votes on September 23 and 24.
- March 20, 2026. Heritage Foundation Security Summit in Miami. Absent from Senate votes on March 18 and 19.
- April 8, 2026. Texas Policy Summit in Austin, Texas. Absent from Senate votes on April 7 and 8 (two sessions).
- May 6, 2026. Talk with the Lincoln Club organization of Orange County, California. Absent from the Permanent Commission session.
Her Absenteeism is Increasing
In the LXIV and LXV Legislatures, Téllez was absent from 9 percent of the total sessions. Meanwhile, in the second ordinary session of the second year of the LXVI Legislature, she recorded 21 attendances and six excused absences. That is, she missed 22 percent of the total sessions.
Regarding voting, in the LXIV and LXV Legislatures, the Senator was absent in 24 percent of the voting opportunities. In the most recent legislative session, this figure rose to 32 percent. She had 80 opportunities to vote, voting or abstaining in 54, and was absent in 26 instances.
In 25 sessions of the LXVI Legislature, Téllez attended the Senate to vote on some issues, but was absent for others on the same day. In a previous article for SinEmbargo in 2023, journalist Obed Rosas had already reported this pattern of Téllez’s attendance, at that time totaling 26 absences, but 52 sessions in which she was present but not in the plenary session, and another 52 in which she missed at least one vote.
Lilly Téllez Proposes Reforms Along Trump’s Lines
In terms of initiatives, between 2018 and 2023, he submitted 65 initiatives, and 73 in the current LXVI Legislature, both individually and as part of a group. None have been approved so far, although it’s worth noting that Morena and its allies have held a majority in the Senate since 2018.
Several of Téllez’s initiatives in the Senate have followed the same lines as Trump’s actions in the United States. For example, in February 2025, the senator proposed an amendment to the National Security Law that would facilitate the declaration of a state of emergency and classify criminal groups in the country as terrorist organizations.
Within the proposed exceptional regime, it establishes that financial institutions and the SAT (Tax Administration Service) could “provide information on suspicious transactions without requiring a court order,” and that “the Armed Forces and the National Guard may use lethal force against members of a national terrorist organization without incurring criminal liability when participating in operations authorized by the National Security Council.”
In another initiative , dated May 26, 2025, she proposed establishing penalties of between 15 and 40 years for those who commit the crime of “political terrorism”, in cases of those who seek to “alter or suppress the democratic institutional order through the use of fear or coercion”.
Also in cases of those who seek to “intimidate or produce alarm, fear or terror in other public servants or the general population, for political or ideological purposes.”
In April 2025, also in line with Trump’s policies , Téllez proposed incorporating into the Constitution “the definition of ‘woman’ and ‘man’ according to biological sex,” and establishing bathrooms for women, others for men, and others that are mixed or neutral.
“This reform does not violate the right to the free development of personality, nor does it deny rights to trans or non-binary people. On the contrary, it promotes a structural and respectful solution: the creation of neutral, inclusive, mixed, or gender-neutral healthcare spaces, whose existence should be mandatory in public places in accordance with the principles of accessibility, safety, health, dignity, and hygiene,” she stated in her proposal.
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The Senator Boasts About her Social Media Activity & Interviews with Fox News
In her report on the first year of the LXVI Legislature, Téllez highlighted her intense activity on social networks, since she believes that in this way she has supposedly managed to interact with the citizens, listen to their concerns and know “first-hand the realities they live in different regions of the country.”
The use of social media, she added, is “essential” to establish his position, defend life and family, and “bring politics closer to the people,” as well as promote “healthy and constructive debate.” This is despite his well-known confrontational style and direct attacks against leftist figures, constantly accusing politicians from the Morena party of being linked to organized crime.
In his report, Téllez also boasted about his interviews with Fox News, a conservative American network also known for having an editorial line favorable to Donald Trump.
SinEmbargo‘s Data Unit found that since July 2025, Téllez gave at least 10 interviews to Fox News , eight in Spanish and two in English. In one of the interviews, in August 2025, the PAN senator stated that “U.S. assistance in combating the cartels in Mexico is absolutely welcome.”
When questioned about it by the press, President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her morning conference: “I do not agree with what he did, going to the United States to ask for intervention, that is something else entirely.”
Téllez’ Advisors
The National Transparency Platform shows that Senator Lilly Téllez has had at least five advisors in the Senate:
| Lilly Téllez’s advisor | Net monthly remuneration | |
|
| | Laila Lorena Ramón López | $37,592.00 | | Roberto Hernández Tena | $47,533.00 | | Francisco Javier Burgoa Perea | $75,413.00 | | Rosalinda Aello Vizcaíno | $92,413.00 | | Monserrat Alicia Cervantes Álvarez | $40,533.00 |
According to data from the National Transparency Platform (PNT), Rosalina Aello Vizcaíno appears with the highest salary, as the person in charge of administrative affairs for the PAN senator. In second place is Francisco Javier Burgoa Perea, PhD in Law, “legislative advisor.”
According to her asset declaration, Monserrat Alicia Cervantes Álvarez has been in charge of “managing social media and websites, taking photographs” for the senator, in addition to being her media liaison.
Lilly Téllez Does Not Report Houses or Apartments
In her asset declarations available on the National Transparency Platform (PNT) from 2022 to 2025, Senator Téllez reported an average net annual income from her public office of 1,711,000 pesos. This equates to 142,000 pesos per month.
Regarding her assets, she has not reported owning any houses, apartments, or land. In 2022, she declared having received a 2011 BMW 750L in 2010, valued at 1.7 million pesos. She stated that she received it as a donation and later donated it herself.
The same applies to a 2008 BMW, valued at 350,000 pesos, which she said she received as a donation in 2015, and which she later also donated. In her subsequent statements, she no longer mentioned owning any vehicle.
In her statements, the senator recalls that between 1994 and 2020 she worked as a reporter and host for Televisión Azteca, owned by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, and that she studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Communication at the University of the Northwest, although she left it unfinished.
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