Last month, Carlos Slim, the Mexican businessman, jumped into second place on the list of the world’s wealthiest individuals. The news came just a few weeks after Forbes, which compiles the list, confirmed that Mr Slim’s fortune had grown far quicker than that of anyone else last year – at an average rate of $52m a day.

Mr Slim, now 67, presides over a business empire that extends from mining to retail and creeps into just about every aspect of Mexican life. But if there is one thing that explains the huge growth in his wealth over the past few years, it is Telmex, Mexico’s largest fixed line telephone company, and América Móvil, its cellular spin-off.