MENÚ
By Samedi Aguirre for Factchequeado
Mexico City’s historic center is defined by the echo of centuries past. Streets are lined with grand colonial-era buildings of tezontle and cantera stone. Baroque architecture predominates, and in some places, it is almost impossible to tell where one building ends and another begins.
That sense of continuous construction is evident on the street that now bears the name of Mexican journalist Filomeno Mata. Unlike nearby buildings, which house museums or restaurants, number 8 on the street is home to the Club de Periodistas de México, a nonprofit founded in 1952. Publicly, it condemns lies but promotes Russian propaganda and disinformation about the military invasion of Ukraine and other issues key to Vladimir Putin's government.
Although the door is open, once inside, the sound of cars, barrel organ music, and bustle fade away, despite being only 900 meters from the Zócalo, the Cathedral, and the National Palace where the President of Mexico works. The quiet makes it feel like a church, until a voice calls from a tall wooden reception desk: “Speak!”
The man looks impatient, so I hurry to ask for information about the facilities that are rented out for parties. “I saw it on Bodas.com,” I say. He seems confused but hands me a crumpled visitor's book, asks me to write down my name, and holds up his cell phone to check the entry time. “Let's see, my watch is broken,” he says, and with that excuse, he looks at my phone screen without any discretion.
It turns out that this space has not only been used for political events such as the press conference held by Morena leaders and elected representatives in July 2024, where the Judicial Reform was promoted, or to host a journalism award that has been particularly beneficial for media outlets such as Russia Today (RT). It is also rented for weddings, graduations, and any other social event. “This Viceregal Palace connects you with the cultural richness of the city and offers unique spaces for meaningful encounters,” the Club’s website says.
If you hold your wedding here, you could say the same place welcomed Russian Ambassador Viktor Koronelli, who received an award for the Russian propaganda outlet Tsargrad for its coverage of the war in Ukraine.
“This is your Mexican home,” Celeste Sáenz, who together with Mouris Salloum George leads the Club, told the ambassador in 2023. The organization also publishes a magazine, runs a website and podcast, and operates a social welfare foundation for journalists named after its founder, Spanish journalist Antonio Sáenz de Miera Fieytal, Sáenz’s
It is a three-story building covers 1,892 square meters (20,365 square feet). My footsteps echo loudly on the monumental staircase to the first floor, where the Adolfo López Mateos Hall is located. López Mateos, as president of Mexico, decreed on Dec. 8, 1961, that the space would be used by the Club Mexicano de Periodistas A. C, according to the archives of the Diario Oficial de la Federación, the government’s official record.
The building is so large that there is space for a café on the ground floor, although it is currently unused. The courtyard hosts events for up to 300 guests, the second floor contains the association’s offices, and the third floor is home to the Posada del Periodista, which can accommodate 34 permanent guests, eight day guests, and 50 medium-stay guests.
According to the media library of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History), the building was formerly a convent of the Order of the Bethlemites. It passed into private hands in 1894, was allocated to the Department of Industry and Commerce by presidential decree in 1930, transferred to the Department of Weights and Measures in 1937, and has housed the Club de Periodistas since 1961.
A smiling woman greets me and shows me the covered patio that is rented out for parties from the balcony. The floor looks like a chessboard of black-and-white marble squares beneath multiple columns with perfectly molded capitals. She points out the bathrooms and boasts that themed parties have been held there.
She does not mention that the space also hosted an RT-led media course last year, similar to one held in Venezuela, which, according to fact-checkers Cazadores de Fake News, concluded with shouts of “¡Viva Rusia!” and “¡Viva Putin!”
Nor does she mention international press conferences, including one by Evo Morales in November 2019, when he arrived in Mexico after resigning as Bolivia’s president, or that the façade is used in television and commercial filming.
Behind me, I hear the rapid movement of two people saying goodbye as they walk through the tall wooden doors with gold moldings. “My jefe and my jefa are leaving,” he tells me, as I see a blonde woman hurry and a tall, dark-haired man walk ahead. Their bosses are Celeste Sáenz and Mouris Salloum George.
Minutes later, I am led to an office where the walls are almost entirely covered with enormous photos of the courtyard set up for events, and a large screen shows the building’s extensive video surveillance.
The manager at a large wooden desk tells me that renting the space for six hours costs 77,000 pesos ($4,191), plus 1,500 pesos ($81) for bathroom cleaning. Music, decorations, furniture, and catering are not provided and must be arranged separately. The calendar already shows six events booked for the last four months of 2025.
I thank her for the information and calmly say goodbye to the man at the reception desk, which also serves as the entrance to the foundation named after the club's founder, Antonio Sáenz de Miera Fieytal. The club and the foundation are located in the same building, where tomorrow there may be a wedding, followed by the filming of a series, and the next day, awards that favor the Kremlin's narratives.
* This article is part of our investigation “Putin’s Laundromat.”
Factchequeado is a fact-checking outlet that builds a Spanish-speaking community to counter disinformation in the United States. Want to join? Send the content you receive to our WhatsApp +1 (646) 873 6087 or visit factchequeado.com/whatsapp.
Read more:
This Is How Mexico’s Club de Periodistas Website “Launders” Information From Russian State Media
From the USSR to Today: Moscow’s Longstanding Interest in Mexico
A Haven for Russian Propaganda—and a Wedding Venue: Inside Mexico City’s Journalists’ Club
Workshops, Street Promotions and Alleged Covert Operations: Russian Propaganda in Latin America
