Mexican actress, producer and director Salma Hayek said this Sunday, after learning about the tax incentives proposed to the country’s film industry by Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, that it is time to tell stories “when we are under moral attack”.
Without mentioning it, Hayek referred to U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant discourse against Mexicans in that country.
Salma Hayek in Mexico
“Maybe what we didn’t have was this president,” says Salma Hayek about Claudia Sheinbaum
The actress highlighted incentives for the film industry as she recounted how difficult it has been to get support in the country.pic.twitter.com/xmMPfwNK1W
– Azucena Uresti (@azucenau) February 15, 2026
In her speech, Hayek highlighted how President Sheinbaum “immediately understood the economic injection that this – tax incentives – would be for Mexico and how it was going to help, not just our film community.”
“(We) must have the ability to tell more stories that represent us and our great artistic ability of how to tell the stories, which is extremely important when we are being attacked morally and our image is being represented in a completely wrong way,” the actress said.
“Being able to take control of saying, ‘this is Mexico, not what they are selling you; this is who we are,'” he added.
The President acknowledged that Hayek “has been a great advocate for Mexicans” in the United States.
Hayek, who has excelled in Hollywood, a few months ago expressed her support and raised her voice for migrants in the United States in the face of Trump’s policies.
This Sunday, Sheinbaum announced a series of tax incentives to boost film and series production in the country and did so with Hayek, who a few months ago personally asked her for support and impetus for this initiative.
“I think cinema was abandoned for a long time. And thanks to Mexican talent, who never gave up, we have not only survived, but it has grown despite the complete lack of support,” said Hayek.
The actress, nominated for an Oscar in 2003 for her role in the film Frida, about the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, said that no country can compete with Mexico in terms of locations and natural beauty.
“There is no other country in the world that has the ecological diversity, the beauty, here there is everything (…) there is no other country that has what we have. When you see the locations of my films you will not believe it, the jewels that have never been seen, that we ourselves did not know they were there,” he said.
He said that foreigners are also impressed with the level of Mexican talent in film.
“Technically we are wonderful, there is a lot of talent behind the cameras and the industry will continue to grow. This is going to be an immense economic injection, and also artistic, cultural and gastronomic”.
In her turn, the head of Mexico’s Ministry of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, explained that the incentive “consists of a tax credit against income tax equivalent to up to 30% of the expenditure made in Mexico, with a ceiling of 40 million pesos (US$2.3 million) per project”.
He added that in order to strengthen and ensure that this “goes directly to our industry and creators, this instrument will only benefit as long as 70% is spent in domestic supply”.
Filed under: Salma Hayek in Mexico
With information from EFE