Day of the Dead has changed for me since first coming to Mexico

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October 29, 2022

Day of the Dead traditional foods — Over her 20+ years in Mexico, Day of the Dead has shifted for the writer from an cultural encounter to a more intimate experience filled with meaning. Gerardo Covarrubias/Unsplash

It’s my favorite time of the year!

The weather is crisp but not yet intolerably cold; it’s energizing rather than depressing. Is there anything better than sweater weather paired with a bright sun and a warm drink in your hands?

Here in Mexico, we might not get many golden leaves, but we do get golden flowers: cempasúchil, or the marigold plant, is the official flor de muerto, which I think is a pretty fair exchange.

We also get brightly-colored papel picado (those tissue paper decorations with cut-out patterns that go on and behind Day of the Dead altars). We get candied skulls and special bread called pan de muerto, decorated with sugar crystals sparkling on top made to look like crossed bones.

What’s not to love?

Day of the Dead has been my favorite Mexican holiday since my first experience celebrating it 20 years ago in Naolinco, a small town in the mountains of Veracruz. The town’s official business is all things leather – mostly shoes – but they’re also locally famous for going all-out for this particular holiday.

That first year, my small group of fellow study-abroad students and I wandered around the town, looking at altars, many of which were displayed in the fronts of homes — whose owners beckoned us in to see them.

We’d eaten dinner at a restaurant first, though we needn’t have done so: we were given tamales, bread and homemade wine by all the strangers inviting us into their homes.

Cempasúchil seemed to glow brightly from every corner that night, and music from the carolers in the busy graveyard drifted over the town. What a night! I was hooked.

Last year, I went to Naolinco again and stayed this time with a friend living in the next town over. Despite the pandemic, the streets were filled.

While there were too many crowds for anyone to be inviting throngs of people inside their houses, the town was still brightly decorated, the celebration in full swing. It had officially been “discovered” by us city folk, and while I’m sure it’s a boon for tourism and represents a well-appreciated swell of income for the businesses there, I wonder how many native inhabitants choose to stay inside on those days for a little peace with their dead.

During the 19 years between my first and second Naolinco Día de Muertos trips, how I celebrate the holiday has changed.

I still stop to appreciate the public altars around my city, Xalapa, Veracruz, and I go to the series of Día de Muertos plays (always one funny, one serious, and one so weird and abstract I never understand what it’s about) that are put on at the Bicentennial Park. And hey: I’ll accept tamales, chocolate, and bread from pretty much anyone.

I still love the public aspect of the holiday, but with my own altar becoming more crowded each year, I make a point of spending time with it here at home. Now it’s a time for my dead who need to get the attention they deserve.

This year (so far), I’ve reserved the places of honor for my mother and my grandmother, one on each side. My mother visited me in Mexico several times and loved it. She hadn’t wanted me to come initially, but when she got here for the first time, she told me she understood why I was so happy here.

My paternal grandmother, as far as I know, never did come to Mexico … at least not on any kind of a long trip that I know of. She was also deeply scandalized by certain aspects of the Mexican Catholic Church. “Sarah, they worship the Virgin Mary as if she were a goddess!” she’d say, exasperated — and, hey, she wasn’t wrong.

I wonder what she would say to being on my very non-Presbyterian altar now. Surely, the cosmic version of herself would appreciate the intention.

My own dead grew up in, lived and died in a culture that did not celebrate death; more than anything, we tried to ward it off. The only appropriate emotions in the face of death were sorrow and terror, and we worked hard to avoid talk of it; it was almost unspeakable.

But trying to run away from the reality of death is certainly a loser’s game if there ever was one.

I miss my mom and my grandma. And celebrating them on Day of the Dead doesn’t mean that I get them back, but it does mean that there’s a carved-out block of time for me to sit with them, a tradition that is becoming more important to me as the years go by.

Now, the celebration is bittersweet and more personal, which in my book still beats just plain sorrowful.

So I set things out for my dead: flowers, chocolate, tamales, mandarins. I sprinkle cempasúchil petals around and light some candles. And then I sit for a while and try to conjure them.

I imagine them walking into the room and having a seat next to me. Will I see them again, here or after? Did they go out like candles, or are they out there in some conscious form, knowing things that I don’t? There’s no greater mystery than that of the one experience no one’s come back to tell us about.

Day of the Dead is a time to remember, and it’s also a time of reminders: we’ll all be with them soon enough. So, live it up now: there’s chocolate and bread to be had.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com

Chamber of Deputies modifies law to ban use of marine mammals for entertainment

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MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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tourists doing dolphin activities in Cancun, Mexico — Tourists in Cancún interacting with dolphins with a trainer, second from left. Such activities will now be banned under the new law. File photo by Elizabeth Ruíz/Cuartoscuro

The Chamber of Deputies modified the General Wildlife Law to prohibit the use of marine mammals – such as dolphins, seals, and otters – as part of entertainment shows or activities not related to scientific research or educational reasons. If the objective is not the reintroduction, repopulation, or translocation of the specimens, intensive breeding is also banned.

The amendment was promoted by deputy Karen Castrejón Trujillo, a member of the Green Party (PVEM), and president of the Environment and Natural Resources Commission. She explained that the modification seeks to terminate the forced reproduction of marine mammals with current authorizations remaining in place until the specimens’ death.

The owners of any marine mammal will have 90 days to present an inventory as well as changes to their management plan necessary for compliance with the new law. These updates must be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, SEMARNAT and, the Federal Office for Environmental Protection, Profepa. Failure to do so will result in the revocation of the permits to keep the mammals.

In the meantime, the president’s office has a maximum of 365 days after the law’s effective date, to start the process of issuing and updating all administrative regulations necessary for compliance with the wildlife law.

Mexican federal Deputy Karen Castrejon — “It is inhumane to continue subjecting these marine mammals to the stress caused by being part of a show for which they must modify their natural behavior,” said Green Party federal Deputy Karen Castrejón. Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro

In its statement of reasons, the reform mentions that while it is focused on marine mammals, the main drive behind it was the dolphins, whose subsistence has been “distorted” to make the public believe that their captivity for recreation is a means of protecting their species.

Even if the law bans the capturing of dolphins, there are enough specimens to be breed in captivity, says the statement, “without any reason that explains the need for those who do it to condition an animal to live in captivity for life.” The new law also recognizes the impossibility of reintroducing some of the mammals back to their natural habitat – particularly those who were born in captivity and who “didn’t even had a chance to experience freedom”.

According to Forbes México, there are about 3,000 captive dolphins in the world, of which 250 are in Mexico. The revenue from captive dolphin shows ranges from US $400,000 to $2.2 million per animal.

Deputy Castrejón Trujillo remarked that “it is inhumane to continue subjecting these marine mammals to the stress caused by being part of a show for which they must modify their natural behavior.” In that sense, she said that the new law reflects the demands of environmental activists who have been fighting for years to end the use of dolphins for profit.

The new law follows the lead of 2015 legislation banning the use of wild animals in circuses. At the time, such a law created a relocation problem for rescued animals, with many ending up in the controversial Black Jaguar/White Tiger big cat sanctuary on the outskirts of Mexico City, run by a charity with offices in California and in Mexico. It was shut down in July by the environmental agency Profepa after the agency learned that the resident animals were suffering from starvation and extreme neglect.

With reports from Forbes México and Infobae

Laser imaging reveals ‘astonishing’ size of ancient Maya capital Calakmul

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MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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The great pyramid of Calakmul. Manuel Quesada-Ix / Community Tours Sian Ka'an via UNESCO

A laser imaging survey of the Calakmul Biosphere in Campeche has discovered the immense urban sprawl of the ancient capital of the Kanu’l dynasty, as part of a joint research project by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project.

The findings were shared on the INAH YouTube channel on Tuesday by INAH Director Diego Prieto along with the international team of researchers including Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor, a professor at the University of Calgary and director of the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project, and Adriana Velazquez Morlet, state director of INAH in Campeche. Both experts received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to conduct the survey using a 3-D laser scanning technique known as LiDAR.

In the broadcast, Dr. Reese-Taylor and archaeologist Velázquez Morlet, detailed that the team imaged a 95 km area of the ancient Maya city revealing residential apartment buildings — some made up of more than 60 individual structures — which served as households for large extended families and affiliated members. The sprawling residential complexes are grouped around numerous temples, sanctuaries, and possible markets.

“The magnitude of landscape modification may have equaled the scale of urban population, as all available land was covered with water channels, terraces, walls, and dams, to provide maximum food security and sufficient water for city dwellers,” they said. The new discoveries confirm that Calakmul was one of the largest cities in America around the year A.D. 700.

A LiDAR image shows a portion of the city of Calakmul. INAH

The discoveries confirm and add to the findings of investigations carried out in the 1980s and 1990s, which estimated that the city must have been home to a large population during the heyday of the Kanu’l lineage based on the enormous number of structures that had been discovered thus far.

Calakmul was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2002 based on both its cultural and natural value. It’s well-preserved structures paint a vivid picture of life in an ancient Maya capital.

With reports from INAH and El Economista

Magical Town, magic mountain: this intriguing ancient city still towers over a charming Pueblo Mágico

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John Pint

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October 28, 2022

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Teul ruins in Zacatecas, Mexico — This enormous ceremonial plaza is just one part of the Cerro de Teúl archaeological site, an ancient city dating back at least 17 centuries.

Teúl de González Ortega, located near the south end of the state of Zacatecas, is one of Mexico’s most beautiful and interesting towns: a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) truly deserving of the name, conveniently located right next to an amazing archaeological site.

“Let’s go visit the Cerro de Teúl,” I suggested to friends in Guadalajara, where I live.

I got a lot of blank stares… and then: “Where is it?”

Next thing I knew, there I was, The Old Gringo, telling my Mexican friends about one of their own treasures.

Cerro de Teul, Zacatecas, Mexico — Like a giant sombrero, the Cerro de Teúl rises above the Ticuata Lagoon.

But perhaps their lack of knowledge is understandable: the Cerro de Teúl archaeological site — located where a pre-Hispanic city was built on a mountain — only opened to the public in 2018 after a decade of excavation. Researchers say it has at least 17 — if not 19 — centuries of history.

“It’s a two-hour drive from Guadalajara, straight north along an excellent highway, through one of the more picturesque canyons in Mexico, la Barranca de San Cristóbal, and right now (October) the roadside is festooned with vast stretches of wildflowers.”

Inevitably, the next question was: “Is it safe?”

This question is now in vogue any time you mention a place that seems “far away.” Conventional wisdom says that “far away” is automatically dangerous and definitely populated by “mala gente” (bad people).

“My contacts in [the town of] Teúl [a historian and an archaeologist] both say it’s perfectly safe.”

Ball court at the ruins at the Teul ruins, Zacatecas, Mexico — The ball court on the day the site was inaugurated in 2018.

The following Saturday found a group of my friends winding our way beneath high, red cliffs, overlooking deep valleys filled with billowy white clouds of morning fog. With such glorious views, the two hours passed quickly and suddenly the Cerro de Teúl, a great peak shaped like a giant sombrero, loomed above us, so stately and imposing that even the notorious conquistador Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán remarked upon its grandeur.

Two minutes after entering the Magical Town of Teúl de González Ortega, we reached the base of this little mountain and the site’s visitors center, where we were met Teúl’s very own chronicler, Professor Ezekiel Ávila, as well as archaeologist Peter Jiménez.

Jiménez informed us that he would be completely superfluous on our tour of the ruins because the site was a pioneer in the development of an ingenious app that was going to guide us along our 1.8-km circuit, using narration, animations, videos and augmented reality — an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. All we had to do was download the free Cerro de Teul app from the Google Play store.

The app is unfortunately only for Android, so if you have an iPhone, you’d better hire a human guide.

Augmented reality skeleton at Teul ruins, Zacatecas, Mexico — With a little help from augmented reality, the author chats with one of the 60 skeletons found beneath the sunken patio.

“Now, if any member of a group is disabled,” mentioned Jiménez, “he or she can relax in the visitors’ center and — wearing a virtual reality headset — enjoy a complete guided tour of the ruins. It’s so realistic, some people actually get a little dizzy while virtually walking up the steep hillside.”

A few minutes later, we were huffing and puffing up that same steep slope, grasshoppers jumping out of our way with every step. Because we had snapped a picture of the first explanatory sign on the trail, our smartphones had been activated and they were now explaining to us that the Cerro de Teúl is one of the richest archaeological sites in Mexico because it was continuously occupied for nearly 2,000 years by peoples who were never conquered by the Mexica.

We learned that a great city had covered every inch of the hill we were climbing, that it was one of the first industrial zones of the continent, where they manufactured products made of copper and ceramics. Indeed, it is on this hill that they discovered the oldest copper-smelting furnace ever found in pre-Hispanic Mexico, used between A.D. 900 and 1200 and fired by corn cobs.

Then, after proceeding up steep stairs built centuries ago to a long, flat area bordered by two pyramids and offering a magnificent view of distant mountains, our omniscient app, (with a little help from Peter Jiménez) explained that we’d reached an ancient ceremonial center, where rituals were held — especially during the spring equinox — to reenact, so to speak, the creation of the world.

This plaza would be crowded with people, who were told that, “in the beginning, there was darkness and there was water and there was a serpent… Then the gods created fire, and the sun appeared in the east, where there was a sacred mountain. And the sun climbed the mountain, and this was the first sunrise.”

Within the bounds of the plaza, archaeologists found an undulating canal which represents the serpent. They also found the remains of many ancient bonfires. The pyramid, of course, represented the sacred mountain. Even today, if you come during the spring equinox, you will see the sun rise directly behind it.

A few minutes walk from the plaza took us to a sunken patio, as archaeologists call it, where people used to dance, eat and drink.

Beneath this patio, the app told us, archaeologists found some 60 skeletons, apparently the bodies of famous persons, who were honored by being buried in this sacred spot.

Presa La Ticuata, Zacatecas, Mexico — Teúl’s Presa la Ticuata is completely uncontaminated, the locals say.

“These people,” we learned, “typically had artificially flattened heads and teeth filed to sharp points.”

Then, the app asked us, “Would you like to take a selfie with one of the skeletons?”

Well I couldn’t resist, and now — thanks to augmented reality technology — I have a photo of myself hobnobbing with a 1,000-year-old celeb.

Further up the hill, we came to a well-preserved ball court where we got to see 1,000-year-old statues of two ballplayers. One of them is nearly two meters tall and was deliberately sculpted without a head, perhaps confirming the old belief about the ancient ballgames that the captain of the winning team was honored by decapitation.

city of Teul, Zacatecas — A Teúl street decorated with parasols.

At the highest point in our tour, we came to one of seven shaft tombs found on this cerro, all of them approximately 2,000 years old. This was where the tour ended.

A self-guided walk through the ruins takes about two hours, leaving you plenty of time to wander through the pretty streets of the Pueblo Mágico of Teúl and work up an appetite.

After being thoroughly charmed by the town’s arches, balconies and clean, quaint streets, we were now ravenously hungry, so drove down to a adorable little lake (Presa la Ticuata) just south of town and hopped aboard a floating restaurant.

Actually “floating dinner table” might be a better description. The boat was long and narrow, with just enough room for the table and seated diners, which meant we were kept plenty busy before, during and after the meal, passing place settings, food and drink up and down the line.

Eating on a floating restaurant in Teul, Zacatecas — Visitors enjoying *chamorro al vapor* at a floating restaurant in the Presa la Ticuata just outside the Pueblo Mágico of Teúl.

Our delicious chamorro al vapor (steamed pork hock) dinner included Teúl’s culinary specialty: gorditas, served on oak-leaf “plates.” By the time we had finished eating we had toured the lake and strolled around several picturesque spots on its shores.

Finally, you can’t escape from Teúl without a visit to Don Aurelio’s Distillery, where you quickly discover that first-class tequila can indeed be produced in the state of Zacatecas… as long as you label it “mezcal.”

After describing a full day in Teúl, I have to admit that maybe there is something dangerous about this town: there’s so much to do that you might just lose track of the time, as we did, and end up driving back through the Barranca in the dark.

When they update that nifty “Cerro de Teúl” app, maybe they should add an alarm clock.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.

Downtown Teul, Zacatecas, Mexico — Arches and balconies in the quaint streets of Teúl.

Gorditas in Teul, Zacatecas, Mexico — Gorditas, Teúl style, contain curd cheese and cream. They are placed on a large oak leaf and then baked in an oven for three hours.

Militarization bill endorsed by a majority of state legislatures

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MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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Soldiers participate in a ceremony in the state congress of Tamaulipas SedenaMX Twitter

A reform authorizing the use of the military for public security tasks until 2028 has been approved by 17 of 32 state congresses, ensuring that it will be enshrined in the constitution.

The constitutional bill, which allows the federal government to keep the armed forces on the streets for an additional four years, was approved by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies earlier this month.

The legislatures of México state, Hidalgo, Nayarit and Sonora approved the bill on Thursday, joining 13 other states that had already endorsed it. With a majority of state congresses having now ratified the reform, it will be enshrined in the constitution once it has been published in the government’s official gazette.

Interior Minister Adán Augusto López visited some states to urge lawmakers to approve the reform. President López Obrador said last month that the ongoing presence of the armed forces on the nation’s streets is essential to guarantee peace, while a recent poll found that almost three-quarters of Mexicans agree with the plan to continue using the military for public security tasks until 2028.

López Obrador on Friday directed his interior minister to continue visiting state congresses and monitor the way in which lawmakers vote on the reform, which was originally presented by an Institutional Revolutionary Party deputy.

The government needs to know “who is who,” the president said. “Let’s see if [state lawmakers] vote as representatives of the people or representatives of parties, if they’re going to act on orders or [while] thinking about people’s safety,” he said.

Most opposition lawmakers, human rights organizations and others argue that the ongoing use of the armed forces for public security tasks only perpetuates a failed security strategy and comes with the risk of more human rights violations being committed by the military.

With reports from El Economista and Animal Político

Feds look for suppliers of non-GM corn as imports ban nears

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MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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Though domestic incentives have helped, it is unclear if Mexico will be able to produce enough corn to meet demand without current GM imports. Archive

With a ban on genetically modified corn imports set to take effect in just over a year, the federal government has begun thinking about ways in which it can ensure Mexico is able to buy enough non-GM corn to meet domestic demand.

President López Obrador published a decree on the last day of 2020 stating that GM corn imports for use in the food industry will be phased out by 2024. Ambiguity in the wording of the decree — which also orders the phasing out of the controversial herbicide glyphosate and GM corn seeds — created uncertainty as to whether imports of GM corn used as livestock feed would also be banned.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Víctor Suárez told the news agency Reuters that the government is proceeding with the ban and no modifications would be made, but didn’t specify whether it would apply to corn used to feed farm animals.

He also said that growing domestic production has put Mexico on track to reduce by 50% imports of yellow corn from the United States — most of which is used as fodder — by the time the ban takes effect. Such a reduction is equivalent to 8.5 million tonnes as Mexico currently imports about 17 million tonnes of corn annually from its northern neighbor.

To secure the corn the country will still need while a gap between domestic production and demand remains, the government will consider making direct agreements with farmers in the United States, Argentina and Brazil to supply Mexico with non-GM corn, he said.

“There are many alternatives to importing non-GM yellow corn from the United States,” Suárez told Reuters earlier this week, suggesting that Mexico’s reliance on U.S.-grown corn will diminish once the ban on GM imports takes effect.

Reuters reported that his remark was “the strongest indication yet” that the GM corn ban will apply to yellow corn used to feed livestock. His statement “appeared to reverse assurances Agriculture Minister Víctor Villalobos made to his U.S. counterpart last year that Mexico would not limit imports of genetically modified corn from the United States,” Reuters added.

Agricultural associations in the United States say that the ban on GM corn imports will cause billions of dollars worth of economic damage both in that country and in Mexico, and have urged the U.S. government to challenge the move under the USMCA, the North American free trade pact.

The Mexican government has not confirmed whether the GM corn ban will apply to livestock feed. Depositphotos

Suárez asserted that López Obrador’s decree doesn’t violate the USMCA as Mexico is under “no obligation to buy and grow GM corn.”

“We respect and care for [the trade pact], but the USMCA is not God, nor is it our constitution,” he told Reuters.

It remains to be seen whether the government’s plan to get farmers in other countries to grow and supply non-GM corn is viable.

MAIZALL, a coalition of corn farmer associations from Argentina, Brazil and the United States, has said that affiliated growers won’t alter their production methods to accommodate Mexico’s appetite for non-GM corn. The organization — whose members produce 70% of global corn exports, according to the MAIZALL website — said it has doubts about whether Mexico will be able to source enough GM corn to satisfy demand.

Suárez said that the government could make further announcements about its intentions with regard to U.S. corn exports in the second half of next year. He also said that yellow corn imports have become more expensive than locally grown corn and expressed confidence that the dependence on U.S. imports will be halved by the time the ban comes into force.

Federal authorities are seeking to make deals with Mexican farmers to increase yellow corn production to 6 million tonnes a year, the deputy minister said, adding that “we do believe that we will achieve it.”

Government incentives such as free fertilizer and irrigation projects have already helped to slightly boost yields, Reuters reported, noting also that López Obrador is aiming to make Mexico self-sufficient “in everything from energy to food.”

With reports from Reuters

Baja California to host the 43rd World Congress of Vine and Wine

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MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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Wine glasses near vineyard in background — The international event will be held in Ensenada this year, where 2,500 guests will discuss climate change, sustainability and the wine market in a post-COVID world. Sherry Smith/Istock

Ensenada, Baja California, will host the 43rd annual World Congress of Vine and Wine from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4. The global event, which has not been held since 2019, returns to Mexico for the second time, the first being in 1980.

The event is organized each year in one of the 48 member countries of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) and brings together scientists, academics and grape and wine producers. This year, an estimated 2,500 guests will discuss climate change, sustainability and the wine market in a post-pandemic world.

According to Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, her state is the largest producer of wine in the country, with seven out of 10 wines produced nationally coming from the Ensenada region. The famed Valle de Guadalupe, known as “Mexico’s Napa Valley” is located in the Ensenada municipality.

Mexico produces 64 million liters of wine a year in 14 states today, with a range of grape varietals. While Mexico doesn’t have “very large production” yet, according to Paz Austin, the director general of the Mexican Viticulture Council (CMV), there are 8,000 hectares dedicated to vineyards nationwide, and the country has been recognized for its growth and for the quality of the wines produced.

Mayor of Ensenada Armando Ayala Robles — Ensenada Mayor Armando Ayala Robles held a press conference to announce that the conference for the wine market worldwide would be held in his municipality starting Oct. 31. CMV/Facebook

In recent years, the OIV has recognized Mexican wines with 1,500 awards.

“This shows the relevance of the industry, and it is thanks to this that the OIV, [based in France], chose Mexico as the venue for this 43rd world gathering,” said Hans Backhoff, president of the CMV.

During the event, guests will get to visit the wine regions of Baja California and to learn about Mexican wineries’ practices in environmental matters, microclimates, agriculture and oenology while also enjoying tastings. As part of its cultural agenda, the conference will also host celebrations related to the Day of the Dead.

“There is a lot of interest in attending this event, it is like the Formula 1 of wine,” said Austin.

With reports from Travesías Digital and El Sol de México.

Day of the Dead’s La Catrina has an ancestor in Mexico’s ancient mythologies

By

Sheryl Losser

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October 28, 2022

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Catrina Calavera drawing by Jose Guadalupe Posada — The iconic La Catrina image, created by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada. Creative Commons

La Catrina is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Day of the Dead. In the week leading up to the Day of the Dead, Catrinas and skeletal images stare back at you from shop windows, T-shirts, vendors’ stands, and festivalgoers.

Typically the Catrina is depicted in an elegant dress sporting a bonnet adorned with flowers, feathers and even miniature skulls. Her attire proclaims that this is a festive occasion, a day for celebration.

But the presence of La Catrina in Mesoamerican mythology makes a much deeper statement regarding the way indigenous peoples view death. Colorado State University assistant professor Dr. María Ines Canto says that La Catrina was born from several elements, including “the relationship that indigenous cultures had with death.”

The first “guardian of the afterlife” was Mictecacíhuatl — the queen of the Mexica underworld, known as Chicunamuctlan. It was her role to look after the bones of the dead.

Pre-Hispanic goddess of death Mictecacíhuatl — *Mictecacíhuatl* was the goddess of the underworld and protector of the dead’s bones in pre-Hispanic religious mythology. INAH

The Mesoamerican peoples believed that most of the dead take a journey through nine levels of Chicunamuctlan and that Mictecacihuatl was the guardian of the ninth level. These ancient peoples believed that death was a time to celebrate your ancestors and loved ones who had passed on to the next leg of their journey.

The myth and her name vary regionally, but she is always present. For example, in Oaxaca, legends refer to her as Matlacihua in Nahuatl— “the woman who entangles” or “the huntress.” She punishes womanizers and drunken men who mislead and bring harm to unsuspecting women.

The modern image of La Catrina first made an appearance in 1910 in an etching called “Calavera Catrina” by José Guadalupe Posada — the father of Mexican printmaking. Posada was known for his societal and political satire, which often appeared in the Mexican press.

Bertha Rodríguez, chief operating officer at San Francisco’s Mexican Museum, believes that the image poked fun at Mexico’s street market vendors who stopped selling corn, a traditional Mexican staple, and began selling garbanzo beans instead.

Jose Guadalupe Posada — Artist José Guadalupe Posada created La Catrina as a form of social satire, mocking people of the early 20th century who aspired to look and dress more European and eschew their Mexican roots. Government of Durango city

“They were women who were poor but [who] would wear European clothes and try to look European, and they would deny their indigenous roots. It was a critique of the masses, not of poverty.”

The original print by Posada shows a female skeletal figure wearing a French hat decorated with ostrich feathers but not wearing any clothing. Rodríguez explains that “Posada was saying to these women, ‘You don’t have anything, but you are still wearing a French hat.’”

University of San Diego associate professor Dr. Antonieta Mercado explains that “Posada painted many other skulls and skeletons and used the trope of skeletons to satirize and criticize politicians and public figures of the time.”

“La Calavera Catrina” was not only a statement on Mexican women who tried to emulate Europeans but also a satire about the European obsessions of President Porfirio Díaz, who was known for donning layers of makeup to make his skin look white and wearing the European fashions of the time.

Diego Rivera mural Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central — Frida Kahlo’s frequent association with La Catrina in the modern era may be inspired by her husband Diego Rivera’s mural that includes images of Kahlo and La Catrina standing next to each other. Creative Commons

La Catrina was further popularized later by Diego Rivera in his mural “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central,” (1947–1948). This cultural treasure — located at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum in Mexico City — covers 400 years of Mexican history and La Catrina.

In Rivera’s mural, La Catrina is front and center, wearing an elegant full-length gown. On one side, Diego has positioned Posada, the creator of the original La Catrina. On her other side are Frida Kahlo and the artist himself, represented as a boy.

According to Dr. Mercado, artists like Rivera “started a tradition of vindicating indigenous iconography in the 1930s” because they considered the Mexican Revolution a war that vindicated the rights of the common people, not elites.

The image of La Catrina can be seen in many different forms — from sugar skulls being sold by vendors to large papier mache statues in plazas to the elaborate clothing on skeletons at festivals.

Frida Kahlo self-portrait — One of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s many self-portraits. Some modern representations of La Catrina borrow elements from these works. Centre Pompidou

She is also big business: her image can be found on T-shirts, handbags, tablecloths, shoes and even children’s school backpacks. It also became popular in Mexico to combine the image of Frida Kahlo with La Catrina to create the Frida Kahlo Catrina, which resembles Frida’s self-portraits.

Although La Catrina’s image has become an emblem of the Day of the Dead, it means so much more than a Halloween costume, and she should not be conflated with iconography from that holiday.

Many Mexican women in Mexico and of Mexican heritage in the United States dress as Catrinas on Day of the Dead to keep their culture alive. Photographer Gustavo Mejía helps keep the Catrina tradition alive from behind the camera.

“The Catrina, to me, it means culture, a festive symbol of the Día de los Muertos,” he said.

Talavera makeup version of La Catrina YouTube shiny_alpaca — Many women in Mexico and of Mexican heritage elsewhere dress as Catrinas on Day of the Dead to keep their culture alive: Mexican-American makeup artist Stephanie Callejas as a Talavera version of La Catrina. shiny_alpaca/Instagram

La Catrina’s elegant dress suggests celebration, her inescapable, sly smile reminding us that there is comfort in mortality — and a reminder that the dead should be remembered, not feared. As portrayed by both Posada and Rivera, she captures the comfortable and intimate relationship Mexicans have with death.

“La Catrina has come to symbolize not only El Día de los Muertos and the Mexican willingness to laugh at death itself, but originally La Catrina was an elegant or well-dressed woman, so it refers to rich people,” said David J. de la Torre, former executive director of the Mexican Museum in San Francisco and board member of the Art Museum of the Americas.

“Death brings this neutralizing force; everyone is equal in the end,” he said.

Posada’s reduction of every person to bones had an apparent message that ‘underneath, we are all the same’ — with the same destiny. His satirical etchings are a societal leveler — no matter which part of society you occupy, death eventually comes to everyone.

It also draws a direct line back to the earliest Mesoamerican beliefs: whatever comes after life, the guardian of our souls is a female.

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.

AMLO defends Ayotzinapa investigation after NYT reports setbacks

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MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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The president looks on as Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas, head of the Ayotzinapa truth commission, speaks on Thursday. — Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas, head of the Ayotzinapa truth commission, has investigated the military's involvement in the 2014 student massacre and disappearance. Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com

President López Obrador on Thursday defended the government’s investigation into the disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, in 2014 after The New York Times published a critical report.

The Times said Wednesday that the case involving the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College students has “unraveled” since the government’s truth commission released a report in August saying that the police, army and Guerreros Unidos crime gang were all involved in the crime. Among the allegations was that a retired army general who was a colonel at the time of the students’ disappearance ordered the murder of six of the young men.

In support of its claim that the case has fallen apart, the Times reported that: “Arrest warrants for military suspects were revoked. The lead prosecutor resigned. And now, the backbone of the government’s explosive new report is in question.”

Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas, the head of the Ayotzinapa truth commission, told the newspaper that “a very important percentage” of new evidence in the report is “invalidated” as it couldn’t be verified as real.

“The extraordinary admission — along with a review of government documents, a previously undisclosed recording and interviews with several people involved in the inquiry — points to how the government’s rush to deliver answers resulted in a series of missteps: a truth commission that relied on unsubstantiated evidence and a criminal investigation that botched the prosecution of key suspects,” the Times said.

Speaking alongside Encinas at his regular news conference, López Obrador said that “the latest [truth] commission report is more solid [than previous accusations] in terms of what happened” to the students. He accused The New York Times of being unethical and having cozy relationships with “vested interest groups.”

“You already know the opinion we have about these [prestigious] media outlets, right? They’re very famous but also unethical and closely linked to both economic and political vested interest groups,” López Obrador said.

“For us, the case of the missing young men from Ayotzinapa is a fundamental issue. We have to find out the truth, clarify what happened, punish those responsible and most importantly find out where the young men are,” he said.

After The New York Times' report on setbacks faced by the investigation, Encinas presented this graphic to underscore the complexity of the events and the number of sources of sometimes contradictory information that the truth commission is sorting through. — After The New York Times’ report on setbacks faced by the investigation, Encinas presented this graphic to underscore the complexity of the events and the number of sources of sometimes contradictory information that the truth commission is sorting through. Youtube / Presidencia de la República

The president said that The New York Times report “questions or attempts to question” the actions of Encinas, “who for us is an exemplary public servant in whom we have complete confidence.”

He said that the Times — which obtained a recording of a conversation in Israel between Encinas and Tomás Zerón, head of the now-defunct Criminal Investigation Agency when the students disappeared — and other unethical newspapers “feed off espionage.”

In the aforesaid recording, Encinas pleads with Zerón — who is accused of abduction, torturing witnesses and tampering with evidence related to the Ayotzinapa case — to provide information about the students’ remains and offers the president’s support in exchange for his cooperation, according to the Times, which said the meeting “yielded no new information.”

“The president doesn’t care about putting anyone in jail,” Encinas told Zerón, the Times reported. López Obrador criticized the newspaper for not revealing how it obtained the recording.

“It would be good, for ethical reasons, for it to disclose its source. It won’t do it because they always argue that they have to protect their sources. It’s very regrettable that this happens,” he said.

“… Perhaps Reforma and El Universal have more journalistic rigor and ethics,” López Obrador said, mentioning two Mexican newspapers of which he is frequently critical.

The president said that the government would continue with its investigation and noted that it is attempting to have Zerón extradited to Mexico from Israel.

“We’re going to continue insisting because he’s the No. 2 culprit [in the former government], according to the [truth commission] report. The first culprit … is the [former] attorney general [Jesús] Murillo Karam and Zerón is in second place,” López Obrador said.

Former attorney general Murillo Karam, left, and investigator Tomás Zerón, who is currently seeking asylum in Israel. Archive

Murillo Karam — considered the key architect of the previous government’s so-called “historical truth” with regard to what happened to the students — was arrested on charges of forced disappearance, torture and obstruction of justice in relation to the Ayotzinapa case in August.

“We’re going to resist all the attacks and we’re going to make progress [in the case],” López Obrador said. “Imagine, The New York Times is involved in this, helping torturers, supporting and protecting those who tolerated crimes of the state,” he said, insinuating that the newspaper’s report portrayed Zerón in a positive light.

“What kind of journalism is that? Where is the justice? Are they worried about the young men? Are they worried about the parents who suffer from not having their sons? No, it’s journalism of power, it’s not journalism of justice, that’s why [I have] no respect [for the newspaper],” López Obrador said.

Mexico News Daily

Lawmakers pass bill making social security mandatory for domestic workers

By

MND Staff

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October 28, 2022

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Though domestic workers already had basic workers' rights in theory, the new modification to Mexico's social security law aims to close loopholes and provide a path toward wider implementation. — Mexicans workers are some of the most overworked in the world, according to (Twitter @Tu_IMSS)

Both houses of Congress have now approved legislation that seeks to guarantee that Mexico’s more than 2 million domestic workers have access to social security benefits.

In March, senators voted unanimously in favor of reforming the Social Security Law (LSS) to make the enrollment of domestic workers in a Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) scheme obligatory, and lawmakers in the lower house of Congress followed suit on Thursday.

The reform, supported by 486 deputies and opposed by none, will become law once it has been promulgated by President López Obrador. It adds a new chapter to the LSS that stipulates that employers of workers such as housekeepers and nannies must register them with IMSS. Employers of full-time and part-time workers will be required to comply with the new law, meaning that they will have to make a monetary contribution to IMSS and retain and forward an employee’s contribution to the same institute.

The amount the employer and employee are required to be paid can be calculated using an IMSS online tool (Spanish only) and registration can also be completed on the IMSS website. Information about how to register an employee is available in English in this Infobae article.

The law will provide Mexico’s almost 2.3 million domestic workers — over 90% of whom are women — with a range of benefits, including health care and free medicines. Their family members will also be able consult doctors free of charge at IMSS health care facilities.

Among the other benefits that will be available to domestic workers are sick leave, maternity leave, paid vacations, worker’s compensation, childcare, life insurance, severance pay and a pension.

The approval of the legislation comes almost four years after the Supreme Court ruled that domestic workers must must have access to social security benefits like any other worker and over three years after a labor law benefiting such workers was approved. IMSS established a pilot program in early 2019 and almost 12,000 workers were enrolled in its first eight months of operation.

But the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) reported in early 2022 that the vast majority of domestic workers still didn’t have access to social security benefits.

Marcelina Bautista and other advocates for domestic workers' rights celebrate the passage of the law. — Marcelina Bautista, the founder of the home workers training and advocacy organization CACEH, celebrates the passage of the law with other activists for domestic workers’ rights. Twitter @CACEHmx

Belén Sanz Luque, Mexico representative of UN Women, said in February that 97% of domestic workers were employed informally and weren’t receiving benefits such as health care and paid vacations. That situation should now improve, although the policing of employers could prove to be a challenge.

Marcelina Bautista, founder and director of the National Center for Professional Training and Leadership of Domestic Workers (CACEH), described the Chamber of Deputies’ approval of the legislation as “the last step that had to be taken” to ensure that maids, nannies, gardeners, drivers and others can access social security benefits. As a result of the pilot program, employers of domestic workers “already know … how to comply with this obligation,” she told the news website MVS Noticias.

Deputy Angélica Cisneros Luján, president of the lower house of Congress’ social security committee, said that the new law “has historical significance for Mexico.”

It establishes “the regulatory bases for the incorporation [in a social security scheme] of a sector of working people who have historically been discriminated against and made invisible,” the Morena party lawmaker said.

With reports from El Economista and MVS Noticias

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