The president has 9.3 million followers and high levels of engagement on Twitter. (Screenshot)
With over 20 million followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, President López Obrador is no social media slouch.
But in case he needed additional affirmation of his clout in the digital world, a global communications agency has just ranked him as the world’s 14th most influential leader on Twitter.
New York-based firm BCW published its 2022 Twiplomacy World Leader Power Ranking on Wednesday, an index that shows that only 13 leaders are more influential than AMLO on the social network that was recently purchased by the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ranked No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
To measure the influence of world leaders, BCW created an algorithm that “assigns a tailored weighting to variables including mentions, tweets, retweets, reach, impressions, follower changes, likes and follower count” of world leaders.
BCW said that “engagement matters most” when it comes to influence on Twitter, which has hundreds of millions of active users.
“Online influence is no longer about how many followers a leader has or how many tweets the leader puts out – it’s about how engaged that follower base is, and how likely they are to interact with a leader’s message,” the firm said.
López Obrador is not an overly active Twitter user, but usually publishes at least one post per day to his account — which has 9.3 million followers — even if it is just video footage of his morning press conference, or mañanera.
The president also enjoys analyzing the tweets of his rivals. (Presidencia de la República)
Among the reasons why AMLO took to the microblogging site in the past two weeks were to acknowledge his meetings with Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso (No. 20 on the Twiplomacy index) and Colombia President Gustavo Petro (No. 4); lament the passing of actor Héctor Bonilla; post footage of his “counter-march” in Mexico City; congratulate Mexico’s soccer team — just after it was knocked out of the World Cup; promote the Maya Train railroad project; and offer an opinion on fellow leftist Pedro Castillo’s dismissal from his position as president of Peru.
His posts typically attract thousands of comments, and are also routinely retweeted and liked by thousands of Twitter users. AMLO’s engagement on Facebook, which he appears to favor over other social networks, is even higher.
The president has described social media as “blessed” because of the platform it provides him to communicate directly with his followers, and denounced the silencing of some users, most notably former United States president Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter and Facebook after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
While he has never used Twitter with the same frequency, forthrightness and ferocity with which Trump tweeted, López Obrador is a polarizing figure on social media (as he is offline), with ardent supporters of the president and strident critics using the so-called “digital town square” as a venue for mudslinging and name-calling in a seemingly never-ending slanging match.
President López Obrador in a 2021 meeting with former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo. (Cuartoscuro)
Pedro Castillo, the ex-president of Peru who was removed from office by that country’s Congress on Wednesday, tried to get to Mexico’s embassy in Lima to seek asylum, President López Obrador said Thursday.
He said that Castillo — who was ousted due to “moral incapacity” just hours after he attempted to dissolve the Congress by decree and establish a new emergency government — called him to tell him he was going to Mexico’s Embassy in the Peruvian capital.
“He told me he was on his way to the embassy, but surely they had already tapped his phone,” López Obrador told reporters at his regular news conference.
Pedro Castillo waits in a police office after his arrest on Wednesday. (Policía Nacional de Perú)
“He was going to seek asylum,” he said, adding that he spoke with Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard and directed him to contact Mexico’s ambassador to Peru to ensure the embassy’s doors were opened to Castillo “in accordance with our tradition of asylum.”
But police and citizens surrounded the embassy, and Castillo never arrived because he was arrested, the president said.
“We ask that his human rights be respected. That they act with true legality, that his family is protected,” López Obrador said.
Mexico’s ambassador to Peru, Pablo Monroy, visited the ex-president in prison on Thursday, according to reports by Peruvian media outlets.
Castillo, a former teacher and union leader who was sworn in as president in July last year, is being held in a police prison in Lima where another former president, Alberto Fujimori, is detained, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.
Ebrard said on Twitter Thursday afternoon that Monroy found Castillo “physically well” and in the company of his lawyer. He also posted a letter in which the lawyer formally requested asylum in Mexico for his client.
López Obrador, who has made no secret of his admiration of Castillo, said on Twitter Wednesday that the ex-president faced “an atmosphere of confrontation and hostility” from the beginning of his “legitimate presidency” due to “the interests of the economic and political elite.”
He said Thursday that he was a “victim of harassment and confrontation” and considered an uncultured “mountain-dweller” by the political and economic elite in Peru.
“He told me once that when he used to walk in Lima there were ladies who covered their noses when he went by” López Obrador said.
“… He was always harassed and they weakened him until they managed to remove him. That’s the decision these elites took. I don’t believe it’s the best thing for the people. I feel very sorry for the people of Peru, because it’s a lot of instability [to have] five presidents in six years.”
Employees of Castillo de la Esfera factory create 5 million ornaments per year, decorated, and in some cases hand-blown, individually. (Photos by Joseph Sorrentino)
With 400 stores and factories making and selling artisanal Christmas ornaments (called esferas in Mexico), Chignahuapan, Puebla is the place to go for Christmas decorations — especially artisan-designed ones. Between all the factories here, they make an estimated 70 million ornaments.
Esfera production in Chignahuapan began in 1965 with one man: Rafael Méndez Nuñez, a chemical engineer with an interest in making them who moved to Chignahuapan.
His first esferas were simple, undecorated bulbs; now there’s an almost endless variety made by several factories — from small round bulbs to elaborate designs that look like piñatas and hot-air balloons.
Almost all glass ornaments esferas have one thing in common: they start out as a simple Pyrex tube. But the process from tube to a bauble hanging from your Christmas tree is anything but simple.
Luís Rivera making a hand-blown Christmas bulb.
Castillo de la Esfera (The Ornament Castle), the largest producer of esferas in Chignahuapan, offers tours of its factory, and Arturo Amezcua Muñoz, the director of online sales, was my guide.
The first step in making an esfera is heating the glass tube until it softens and glows a bright orange. The artisan, called a globeador, then blows steadily into the open end of the tube.
“It takes about two weeks to learn the basics, “ said Luís Rivera. The large bulb he was making takes about a year to learn how to do.
Next, the bulbs are coated with a silver solution.
One of the first steps in the decorating process is laying down a base color. Jaime Romero Sánchez achieves this by dipping each ornament individually in paint.
“This is done in a chamber,” explained Amezcua. “The bulbs are transparent, and this [step] gives them higher quality and makes them shine.”
Four years ago, after decades of using glass, the company expanded into making esferas from plastic, which are better for exporting because they don’t break.
Unused plastic is white, and those bulbs are also coated with the silver solution. They also make large black bulbs from recycled plastic, which aren’t coated. Both are made using molds.
The factory also makes metal bases that are popular in Mexico for hanging one or a few ornaments as a decorative item in the home. Paul Hernández’s job requires soldering knowledge.
Rafael Romero Sánchez, in the painting workshop, was dipping silver-coated bulbs into purple paint. As he removed it, gave it a quick twist with his wrist to evenly cover it.
Nearby, his brother Jaime Romero Sánchez was coating larger bulbs with red paint. “Many employees are relatives,” Amezcua mentioned.
Once the bulbs are dry, they’re sent to the decorating workshop.
One of the last steps for this hand-blown glass ornament was precisely dipping it into glitter to color in the painted figures’ clothing.
Jimy Brian Romero was decorating a trompo (a top). “If you have the talent can learn in about a week” he said. “You must have technical skill.”
Nearby, Orlando Reyes was painting a Nacimiento (a Nativity scene) onto a trompo. While he paints 150 to 200 of these a day, Reyes said he recently made 100 Nacimientos in three days, despite the process being slow and detail-oriented.
“As you can see,” he said, “it is painted in parts, and one must let the part dry before adding more.”
Gabriella Tellez decorative glitter on a large bulb made of recycled plastic that is melted down and reformed into Christmas joy.
At another station, Gabriella Tellez coated large black plastic bulbs with glue and then poured on red diamanita (sparkles).
The Castillo also has a metal workshop where a variety of bases are made from which esferas can be hung. Paul Hernandez has worked there six months, making 120 a day.
All esferas are handmade. “The tradition is to make these by hand and to provide employment,” said Amezcua.
The company has about 200 employees who make 1,500 different styles of esferas and produce five million a year. There are tours every day and at the end, people can go to the store where there are thousands of esferas to choose from.
One of the metal bases made the factory holds a single hand-painted ornament.
If you want to tour Castillo de la Esfera yourself, Chignahuapan is about two hours north of Puebla City. Castillo de la Esfera is located at Carretera Chignahuapan-Zacatlán, Km.2. The town is also a Magical Town, so all in all it makes a charming visit, especially at Christmastime.
The Mexican national team warms up for practice on Nov. 29, the day before what turned out to be their last game in the 2022 World Cup. (Selección Nacional de México)
Last week, Mexico beat Saudi Arabia in their last game of the group stage, but it wasn’t enough to win them a spot in the round of 16. The failure to advance this year was just one in a decades-long string of so-close-you-can-taste-it losses for El Tri, as the national team is known.
By points, Mexico tied with Poland for second place in the group; each team had a win (3 points), a draw (1 point) and a loss (0 points), for a total of 4 points. But Poland beat Mexico on goal differential, the number of goals scored by the team minus the goals scored against them during the group stage of the tournament. Poland’s goal differential was 0, while Mexico let in one more goal than they scored, for a final goal differential of -1.
Thanks to this year’s performance, Mexico is now the team with the most games lost in a World Cup (28) followed by Argentina with 23 losses and Germany with 24. Mexico has also joined the exclusive club of teams that have had more than 100 goals scored against them in World Cups: Mexican goalkeepers have failed to block 103 points since the World Cup began in 1930. The only other members of this club are Germany, which has been scored on 128 times, and Brazil, with 105 goals scored against them.
These records are actually perverse reminder of the Mexican team’s many brushes with greatness: El Tri ranks with the likes of soccer superpowers like Argentina, Brazil and Germany in losses partly because all four teams routinely qualify for the the soccer’s top competition. But unlike those teams, Mexico has yet to be a World Cup champion. (For hardcore El Tri fans, the 2014 documentary “Ilusión Nacional,” or “National Hope” in English, documents the Mexican selection’s ups and downs over the years.)
The farthest Mexico has made it was to the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986, also the only two years in which Mexico has hosted the World Cup. This year, Mexico ranked 22 out of the 32 teams to qualify for the World Cup, in the middle of the pack of group stage participants who failed to qualify for the round of 16. But they’ll have another chance in 2026: as a co-host of the next World Cup (along with the US and Canada), Mexico automatically qualifies.
The headless statue may represent a decapitated prisoner of war, the INAH director explained. (INAH)
An imposing, life-size sculpture of a headless human found during excavation work for the Maya Train has been temporarily nicknamed “Yum keeb” — the god of the phallus or fertility.
The finding occurred in the state of Yucatán in the archaeological zone of Oxkintok, about 55 kilometers south of Mérida. The limestone statue without a head, hands, lower legs and feet measures 1.65 meters tall, or about 5 feet 5 inches.
“He was found lying on his back and represents the human figure,” archaeologist Luis Pantoja Díaz said during a media tour of the area on Wednesday. “We see the marked pectorals, the middle part that could be the hanging belly and the part of the member.”
He also said one could see buttocks (which are clearly visible in the photo) and some lines on the back, such as those that delineate shoulder blades (which are not).
While the newspaper La Jornada used the terms falo (phallus) and miembro (member) in describing the figure, another newspaper reported nothing along those lines, or about fertilidad (fertility), explaining instead that the sculpture is that of a warrior.
Its lack of a head “surely represents a warrior who was a prisoner in combat,” said Diego Prieto, general director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), as quoted by El Financiero.
Both sources said the sculpture was possibly used as an offering to the gods. It was found near a hieroglyph-laden staircase that was being cleaned and restored. Pantoja Díaz stressed that the figure is still being analyzed to determine its specific function, thus the “temporary” nickname. Even the statue’s status as the representation of a male is not 100% assured, he added.
Oxkintok was a Maya city that existed in the latter portion of the Mesomerican Classic Period (A.D. 250 to 900) and was the capital of the region before the emergence of Uxmal. Noted for its historical markers, such as pyramids and monuments, it is nestled among mountains that are covered in undergrowth — with lots of potential discoveries still to be made.
The statue was found in Oxkintok in western Yucatán, along Section 3 of the Maya Train. (INAH)
The Maya Train has been divided into seven sections and the INAH reportedly has completed its excavation work in sections 1-3 and 5, with No. 4 to be completed soon and sections 6 and 7 in the prospecting stage.
“We have uncovered information that will nourish the knowledge of the Mesoamerican Maya world for at least the next two decades,” said Prieto, the INAH director. “This work will undoubtedly impact the study of Maya cultures … over many, many years.”
Overall, according to INAH data through Dec. 6, findings on the entire Maya Train route include 31,306 structures including foundations, 1,541 ceramics and chiseled stones, 463 sets of bones or skeletons, 1,040 natural features such as caves and cenotes, 708,428 ceramic figures and fragments (from sections 1-4) and 576 pieces in the process of analysis.
The Maya Train, one of President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador’s most ambitious projects, and one that has been challenged by various problems and issues, will pass through Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Originally budgeted for nearly US $8 billion in 2020, it has now ballooned to up to US $20 billion, according to reports.
Last month, AMLO was quoted as saying that “the largest [current] railway project in the world” at 1,550 kilometers (963 miles) will be completed “in December 2023.”
Heavy machinery clears a section of jungle to make way for the Maya Train. Greenpeace / Paola Chiomante
Nine special rapporteurs and a U.N. human rights working group have warned that the Maya Train railroad could threaten the rights of local indigenous communities to land, natural resources and a healthy environment.
In a statement on Wednesday, the experts expressed concern that the planned railroad may be pushed forward without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous groups in the region, and highlighted that activists opposed to the project have faced threats and attacks.
The experts also denounced the military’s growing involvement in the Maya Train’s construction and stressed that the categorization of the railroad as a national security project could further undermine social and environmental safeguards.
“This decision not only has the potential to allow human rights abuses to remain unaddressed, but also undermines the project’s purpose of bringing inclusive and sustainable social and economic development to the five Mexican states involved,” said Fernanda Hopenhaym, Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
The U.N. panel said that the construction of the train could violate the rights of indigenous Maya families. (Ryan Brown / UN Women)
The Maya Train is a US $10 billion public-private mega-project that was a key campaign pledge of President López Obrador. The planned railroad will form a 1,500-kilometer loop through the Yucatán Peninsula. It aims to promote tourism and development in the region by reducing transport times for passengers and freight.
However, the project has long been controversial. Although it received overwhelming approval in a 2019 public consultation, the vote was criticized for its low turnout and lack of prior information. Since then, numerous indigenous and environmental groups have come out in opposition to the railroad, leading to several legal challenges and temporary injunctions.
AMLO has already been forced to make several concessions to the project’s critics. In the latest alteration, AMLO announced on Monday that the railroad will now include a 72-kilometer stretch of elevated trackway through the jungle — a huge feat of engineering that raises questions as to whether he will be able to fulfill his promise to complete the railroad within a year.
Originally, the Maya Train was projected to run on an elevated line over the coastal highway between Cancun and Tulum. However, this was opposed by nearby hotel owners who feared the impact on their businesses. A revised route involved clearing a 68-mile (110 kilometer) swath of jungle to make way for the tracks. The latest proposal seeks to assuage environmentalists’ fears that laying tracks through the jungle risks crushing or contaminating the area’s network of cenotes, or sinkhole lakes.
Activists say the construction of the Maya Train threatens to contaminate the Yucatán Peninsula’s delicate network of cenotes. (Dorian D1 / Unsplash)
In his Monday press conference, AMLO explained that the new plan would involve elevating the railroad 2.5 meters above the ground, supported by thousands of 25-meter pilings sunk into the earth.
“This will have a minimal effect, because they sink the pilots where there isn’t anything,” AMLO said.
However, activists were swift to reject this claim, and to decry the deforestation that has already taken place.
“They do not have the technical ability to sink the columns where there are no caves, because they [the caves] are everywhere,” cave diver José Urbina told the AP.
He warned that construction of the railroad is already contaminating the aquifers that feed the underground lakes, putting the area’s delicate cave system at risk.
The unique geology of the cenotes is just one of the factors that gives the Yucatán Peninsula such huge environmental, cultural and historical significance. The region’s jungles contain a wealth of biodiversity, as well as numerous archaeological sites and indigenous Maya communities.
In their statement, the U.N. experts emphasized that a transparent and participatory consultation process on the railroad’s social and environmental impacts was necessary to ensure the rights of these communities were respected. They demanded the government conduct this process before taking any further decisions on the project, and urged investors to pressure for all due diligence to be carried out.
“Relevant companies and investors domiciled in Spain, the United States and China cannot turn a blind eye to the serious human rights problems related to the Maya Train project,” they said.
Though inflation has slowed, a 13.8% increase in meat prices continued to drive up the cost of agricultural products. (Graciela López Herrera / Cuartoscuro.com)
Headline inflation fell to its lowest level in six months in November, new data shows, but Mexico’s core index rose slightly to its highest level in more than 22 years.
National statistics agency INEGI reported Thursday that the annual headline inflation rate was 7.8% last month, down from 8.41% in October.
The rate is slightly lower than expected, and the lowest rate since May when consumer prices were up 7.65% on a year-over-year basis. However, it is still well above the central bank’s target range of 3% plus or minus one percentage point.
The Bank of México has lifted its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points on four consecutive occasions in recent months as it seeks to combat high inflation. It is expected to announce another hike — perhaps a slightly more palatable one of 50 basis points — after its monetary policy meeting next Thursday. The bank’s key rate is currently set at a record high of 10%.
The core inflation rate, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, remains a major concern for the central bank — and Mexican consumers trying to make ends meet.
INEGI reported that core inflation was 8.51% in November, up from 8.42% in October. The rate is the highest for any month since August 2000 when core inflation was 8.8%.
INEGI also reported that headline inflation increased 0.58% compared to October and core inflation rose 0.45% on a month-over-month basis.
Prices for agricultural products were up 8.9% on an annual basis in November, with that rate driven by a 13.8% rise in the cost of meat. Processed foods, tobacco and alcohol were 14.1% more expensive last month than a year earlier, while goods in general cost 11.3% more.
Services were 5.3% more expensive, while energy costs rose 3.2%, INEGI said.
María Fernanda Castro Maya and Ceci Flores are Mexican advocates for disability rights and missing persons, respectively. (Human Rights Watch / Facebook)
The BBC list of the world’s 100 most inspiring and influential women for 2022 is out — and two Mexicans are on it.
María Fernanda Castro Maya, a disability rights activist, and Ceci Flores, who began searching for victims of forced disappearance after her two sons were kidnapped by criminal gangs, were both recognized for their leadership in their respective fields.
Castro Maya is part of a group of Mexican advocates with disabilities — backed by Human Rights Watch — who promote participation in politics of people with intellectual disabilities. She was also a member of the Mexican delegation to the United Nations that presented a report on disability rights.
According to the BBC, her work includes the incorporation of accessible language in documents related to political decisions. She also promotes inclusion of disabled people in political parties and electoral events.
Cecilia Flores founded the collective Madres Buscadoras de Sonora (Sonora’s Searching Mothers) and has spent more than seven years searching for her two sons. In 2015, armed men took her 21-year-old son Alejandro and four years later, her other son Marco Antonio, 31, was kidnapped by a criminal gang. Her work is born from the fear of dying without knowing what happened to her children, she said. Under Flores’ leadership, the collective she founded has helped locate more than 1,000 disappeared persons in clandestine graves.
“The shortlist reflects the central role of women in conflicts around the world, from the protesters courageously demanding change in Iran, to the female face of conflict and resistance in Ukraine and Russia,” the BBC said.
Among the women listed are other Latin American names like Eva Copa, who the BBC said, “is revolutionizing politics in Bolivia;” Geraldina Guerra Garces, from Ecuador, who fights against femicide and gender violence in Latin America; and Argentinian environmentalist Sofia Heinonen, who worked to restore the Esteros del Iberá — one of the world’s largest wetland ecosystems.
Some world-famous names also appear on the list, including global music phenomenon Billie Eilish, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, and actresses Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Selma Blair.
Eduardo San Juan (center) is the only actor in Rodrigo Reyes' acclaimed docudrama, "499." The rest are real-life victims of violence in modern-day Mexico who tell the conquistador risen from the dead their stories. (Photo: courtesy of Cinema Guild)
If you want an education on the impact of the violence of the conquest of the Mexica by Spain on contemporary Mexico, watch the brilliantly crafted movie “499” by filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes.
Made in 2020, this movie’s release was timed to coincide with last year’s 500th anniversary of the conquest of Tenochtitlan by Hernán Cortés in 1521.
The musical background and the stunning cinematography — the latter of which won it the Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020 — create a dreamscape backdrop to the increasingly intense stories of victims who have suffered brutal violence in modern-day Mexico.
Labeled as a docudrama, it has elements of magical realism, blurring lines between fantasy and reality, starring the ghost of a Spanish conquistador who wakes up in modern-day Mexico. Played by Spanish actor Eduardo San Juan, he is the only fictional character in the film.
The film’s aim is to imply a through line connecting the Spanish conquest of Mexico to the modern nation’s epidemic of violence and impunity. (Photo: Cinema Guild)
All the victims who the conquistador talks to, however, are Mexicans telling their own real stories as victims of violence.
In making this decision, Reyes draws a parallel between the violent conquest of Tenochtitlan and the harsh reality for many Mexicans today. San Juan is impressive in his portrayal of the weary and bewildered conquistador who is washed up on a beach in Veracruz at the movie’s beginning — knowing where he is but not why.
This nameless conquistador begins a journey over the misty mountains and windswept dunes and bustling villages, the route he took with Cortés as they landed in Veracruz and made their way from there to Tenochtitlan, the site of contemporary Mexico City.
Along the way, this ghostly conquistador hears stories told by victims of violence, which become more intense as the movie progresses. In the background, a narrator brings to life the accounts from diaries of the conquistadors, recounting how the Spanish dehumanized the societies they encountered on their march to the Mexica capital.
One of this anachronistic character’s first encounters is at a school, where he witnesses school children waving the Mexican flag and singing patriotic songs. He interrupts the proceedings to give a speech claiming Mexico for the Spanish crown. But in the middle of it, he loses his voice.
The conquistador has been silenced — now he must just listen.
“There is a lack of listening in our world,” Reyes explained on David Peck Live in 2020. “People of power refuse to listen to victims of power.” It’s important to listen, he says, “even when it’s uncomfortable.”
Some of the scenes are jarring: the conquistador walks atop a mountain of trash and sees a jet overhead — flying over a shantytown. He reflects on past victories as he walked this same route 500 years earlier. Speaking to himself he recounts how “as we came upon temples, we burned them to the ground.”
Filming a scene from the documentary “499.” (Photo: Cinema Guild)
Along his journey, he listens to the story of a young man who father was murdered by drug criminals. “He was a journalist and an activist; they kill you for being either one,” the son states sadly.
He comes across a group of people using hand drills to drill in fields seeking the smell of death emanating from the ground, meaning that they have found a clandestine grave. The conquistador meets a woman grieving for her son who disappeared five years ago.
The victims’ stories become more and more intense. When he gets to the outskirts of Mexico City, the music stops and allows the mother of a 12-year-old girl who was brutally murdered to painfully tell her story in complete and harsh silence.
He listens as a former soldier tells him how he became an expert at torture. He watches migrants attempt to jump on moving trains traveling north to the Mexico-U.S. border — risking life and limb in their desire to escape violence. Some make it, others do not. It induces a contradictory sense of hope and futility.
As the conquistador traverses a mountain of trash in the beautiful and magnificent country they conquered 500 years earlier he asks himself, “What happened to my treasure? What happened to my glory?”
Reyes seems to be saying there is no glory in the apocalyptic conquest of the Mexica by the conquistadors and that this is the result. “For me, there is a very direct connection between what happened during the conquest and what is happening today,” he told Mexico News Daily.
One beautiful scene in the movie occurs when the conquistador stops to watch a performance of the indigenous Danza de los Voladores — a cultural dance believed to be of Mesoamerican origin. He watches as the four men tethered by rope to a 30-meter pole seemingly fly through the air around it.
Reyes shows us the richness of the culture and traditions the Spanish attempted to destroy.
Rodrigo Reyes premiered “499” in Mexico at the Morelia Film Festival in 2020. (Photo: FICM)
The movie explores the brutal legacy of colonialism on Mexico in a stark manner, made even starker by the beauty of the landscape and the accompanying musical score. Reyes portrays Mexico’s endemic violence as part of the colonial legacy still being enacted 500 years later.
Even though the conquistador begins to question his values by the end of the movie, no amount of remorse can make up for the pain and suffering of the indigenous peoples he and his fellow soldiers conquered.
“For many in Mexico, the conquest hasn’t ended,” Reyes said at a forum at San Diego State University following a screening of the film. “I thought it was important to show how we have internalized this conquistador. Sometimes we don’t understand how important history is. My responsibility as an artist is to break through to deeper truths.”
At the completion of the movie, Reyes took the film back to the victims interviewed along the way for them to view and discuss — setting up community viewings in each of the 11 locations where they had filmed.
“For me, the film was not finished until it was taken back to Mexico and shown to the people along the route,” he told Mexico News Daily.
Reyes was born in Mexico City in 1983, and at 39 is considered one of the most potent new voices in independent cinema. He currently lives in the United States. The making of “499” received financial support from the Tribeca Film Institute, the Sundance Film Institute, and the Mexican Film Institute.
Reyes has directed numerous films depicting the experiences of Mexicans living both in Mexico and the United States. His body of work includes the documentaries “Lupe under the Sun” and “Purgatorio.”
Reyes’ “499” is available to watch streaming (in Spanish without subtitles) on YouTube and the FilminLatino website.
499 - Official Trailer
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive and professional researcher. She spent 45 years in national politics in the United States. She moved to Mazatlán last year and works part-time doing freelance research and writing.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard at a meeting of representatives from the Pacific Alliance in November. (Alianza del Pacífico Twitter)
A meeting of Mexican, Peruvian, Chilean and Colombian officials that was scheduled to take place in Lima next week has been postponed due to the dramatic political events that unfolded in Peru on Wednesday.
The Congress of Peru voted to oust Pedro Castillo – who took office in July 2021 – due to “moral incapacity” in an impeachment trial held just hours after he attempted to dissolve the legislature by decree.
The now ex-president had planned to establish a “government of exception” and called for fresh legislative elections. Opposition politicians and allies of the leftist leader – including his vice president Dina Boluarte – accused him of carrying out a coup attempt. Boluarte was sworn in as president Wednesday afternoon.
President López Obrador had been scheduled to pass on the leadership of the four-nation Pacific Alliance to Castillo at a summit in the Peruvian capital next Wednesday.
President López Obrador in a 2021 meeting with former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo. (Cuartoscuro)
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter that the Dec. 14 summit has been postponed due to the “latest events in Peru,” which included the arrest of Castillo by national police.
He said in another post that “Mexico laments the latest events in Peru” and supports “respect of democracy and human rights for the good of” the Peruvian people.
For his part, López Obrador expressed regret that Castillo faced “an atmosphere of confrontation and hostility” from the beginning of his “legitimate presidency” due to “the interests of the economic and political elite.”
In the same Twitter post, AMLO added that the hostility the ex-Peruvian president experienced “led him to take decisions that were used by his adversaries to carry out his removal.”
He has previously expressed support for Castillo, and even sent a delegation to Peru late last year to advise him as he faced attempts by the conservative opposition to remove him from office.
The ousting of Castillo came a day after Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the current vice president of Argentina and a former president and first lady, was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to six years in jail, although she currently has immunity that protects her from arrest.
In a Twitter post on Tuesday night, López Obrador expressed his “deepest solidarity” with Fernández de Kirchner and said he had no doubt that the vice president was “a victim of political revenge and a vile, anti-democratic act of conservatism.”
The vice president – found guilty of directing public roadworks contracts to a family friend while president and first lady – can remain in office as she attempts to have her conviction overturned.
