Senator Juanita Guerra Mena from the Green Party was caught getting a hair dye treatment in a beauty salon inside Mexico's Senate, sparking opposition criticism and prompting its immediate closure. Morena lawmakers defended the service as user-paid and essential for session appearances, while opponents demanded transparency. The facility, reopened in 2024 after a 2018 suspension, had operated for about a year without public funds.
A controversy erupted in Mexico's upper house when a video shared on social media showed Senator Juanita Guerra Mena from the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) for Morelos receiving a hair dye treatment in a beauty salon inside the Senate. The incident featured Guerra Mena, a 1983-born lawyer and farmer, justifying the use: “Here comes chamber staff, but it has a cost (...) I don't know (if Jucopo is aware)”. The salon, dating back to 2007 in the previous building and moved in 2011, was suspended in 2018 by Ricardo Monreal but rehabilitated in 2024 under Adán Augusto López in the Board of Political Coordination (Jucopo).
Senate presiding board president Laura Itzel Castillo Juárez of Morena defended the second-floor space near medical services, equipped with two mirrors, a washbasin, hair products, waiting chairs, and a screen. Open from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. only on session days, it provided hair and makeup services by stylist Jazmín, paid directly by users. “Each of us pays for her service, it's dignified work (...) We all must be well-presented for sessions”, stated Castillo, who admitted using it. She denied it was solely Andrea Chávez's idea, who refuted any link: “I didn't set up any salon, I don't get my hair done in the Senate, no one styles me, I have a Dyson and do it at home”.
Opposition reacted sharply. PAN's Lilly Téllez, unaware of it, called it an abuse: “I don't doubt it's a service exclusively for her [Chávez] (...) They've used the Senate as their private residence”. PRI's Carolina Viggiano demanded transparency on resources like electricity and space: “Everything we do must be known to everyone”. Minutes after the statements, security personnel placed suspension seals, closing the salon that Wednesday. Guerra Mena, with a background in PRI and Morena before joining PVEM in 2024, stressed Jucopo was informed and the service was for various officials.
