Malinchista

This word is a historic reference to Malinche, an indigenous woman who in the sixteenth century served as interpreter between the conquistador Hernán Cortez and the original peoples in Mexico. Malinche and Cortez became lovers, and from then on she has personified the bias against domestically produced goods and services—she preferred the imported man. Malinchista (mah-leen-CHEESE-tah) is a person whose behavior ressembles Malinche's.

Making public one’s preference for imported products over the domestic is seen by Mexicans as betrayal, yet in private everybody acknowledges the superiority of the former.

For Mexicans, to be called malinchista is offensive, but to be one is all right.