“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.
The SinEmbargo 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. These groups insist on 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 in Orange County, California. She stated 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 and how she justifies them. She responded that she has always acted in accordance with the Senate’s regulations, which stipulate that only absences due to illness; legislative work or participation in official events; unforeseen circumstances or force majeure; or with written permission granted by the President of the Senate are considered justified.
In an interview with SinEmbargo, Senator Julieta Ramírez, from the Morena party, criticized the PAN senator’s trips to the United States and the narratives she promotes.
“What she does is request the intervention of U.S. authorities in Mexican territory, and she does so by traveling abroad and appearing 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 It’s outdated legislation; these types of trials are no longer used due to current political culture and changing times.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, she fits the description 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 entertainment,” she added.
Téllez denied that she uses Senate funds to pay for her trips to the United States, 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, legislators in Spain questioned the cost of her trip and her statements.
Lilly Téllez’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 created the document “Project 2025,” identified as a guide for Trumpian policies against migrants, minorities, and women’s right to choose, among other issues.
To attend that event, Téllez was absent from the sessions on September 23 and 24. The Senate website states that she had an “excused 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. She also stated 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 excused, without specifying the reason. During those days, a reform to the General Law on the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples was voted on, along with permission for members of the Mexican 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. This organization, which uses social media to advocate for removing Marxism from schools, defends ICE and its actions against migrants despite the abuses committed, and also insists on the narrative that cartels supposedly 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 latter being a double session in which the ratification of Roberto Velasco as Secretary of Foreign Affairs was voted on.
Her most recent event in the United States took place on May 6. She missed the Senate Standing Committee session and later posted her participation in an event hosted by the conservative Lincoln Club of Orange County, California, in English.
Lilly Téllez’s Activities in the US
July 31, 2025. Visit to the Fox News facilities in Washington. No Senate session.
September 24, 2025. Heritage Foundation US-Mexico Policy Summit in Washington. Absent from 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 of Orange County, California. Absent from the session of the Standing Committee.
In the LXIV and LXV Legislatures, Téllez was absent from 9 percent of the total sessions. During the second ordinary session of the second year of the LXVI Legislature, he registered 21 attendances and six excused absences. That is, he missed 22 percent of the total sessions.
Regarding votes, in the LXIV and LXV Legislatures, he was absent from 24 percent of the voting opportunities. In the most recent session, this figure rose to 32 percent. He had 80 opportunities to vote, voting or abstaining in 54, and was absent on 26 occasions.
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 note from SinEmbargo, in 2023, journalist Obed Rosas had already reported this trend of Téllez, at that time totaling 26 absences, but 52 sessions in which he was present but not in the Plenary, and 52 more in which he missed at least one of the votes.
Source: sinembargo
