President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has taught much of the nation a new word by revealing that the cause of the visible swelling of his right eye is a tutupiche or stye.
Asked about his eye at his Friday morning press conference, AMLO told reporters he had a tutupiche — a Yucatec Maya word for stye, or orzuelo in Spanish.
El presidente López Obrador presenta una infección en el ojo derecho, el cual estaba visiblemente hinchado.
“Es un tutupiche… Investiguen. Es una infección”, señaló, tras asegurar que se encuentra “bastante bien”.
Más, en: https://t.co/cyLtua4xUx pic.twitter.com/ANdZT06ufG
— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) February 9, 2024
“A tutupiche,” he repeated. “Look it up!”
According to the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, tutupiche is a portmanteu of the Yucatec Maya words chuchup, meaning swollen or inflamed, and ich, meaning eye.
López Obrador clarified to befuddled reporters that he had “an infection” in his eye.
He attributed the problem to getting dust in his eyes during his trip last weekend to Oaxaca, where he inaugurated the new highway to the state’s Pacific coast.
“In my homeland it’s called a tutupiche,” AMLO said, referring to his native Tabasco.
“It’s not anything to be worried about, according to the doctor,” he added.
López Obrador — a heart attack survivor who has a range of health conditions — also said that his health in general is “quite good.”
AMLO, who took office in late 2018 after winning the presidency at his third attempt, has less than eight months left in the nation’s top job. Upon completing his six-year term, he plans to retire to his ranch in Palenque, Chiapas.
Mexico News Daily
