Malverde: the Origin of this Cult

from Proceso.com.mx 9 de agosto de 2009
Impreso 1710 | reportajes
Malverde: el origen del culto

NIZA RIVERA

Relacionado como el santo de los narcos, Malverde es en la actualidad una figura venerada "mucho antes de que existiera la prohibición de drogas en el país", dice el investigador Luis Astorga Almanzá, cuya línea de trabajo es la sociohistoria del narcotráfico en México.
Although he’s thought of as a narco-saint, in reality Malverde was revered “long before the existence of drug prohibition in Mexico” says researcher Luis Astorga Almanzá, who has studied the sociohistory of narcotraffic in Mexico for many years.

"Se está estigmatizando a una gran cantidad de gente que cree en Malverde y que nada tiene qué ver con el tráfico de drogas. La historia precede a la prohibición de las drogas, era un bandido social en la época del porfiriato cuando no estaban prohibidas algunas plantas que ahora lo están y cuyo comercio era legal", según explica y se puede apreciar mejor en su estudio El siglo de las drogas: El narcotráfico, del porfiriato al nuevo milenio (2005).
“A large group of Malverde worshippers are stigmatized even though they have nothing to do with drug traffic. The history of this worship antedates drug prohibition, and refers to a social bandit during the Pofiriato dictatorship at a time when drugs that are now illegal were not prohibited commerce”, an argument more fully elaborated in his study “The Century of Drugs: Narcotraffic from the Porfiriato to the New Millenium” (2005)
"Lo que hizo más visible la creencia de Malverde fue el poder económico y la ostentación de los traficantes que creen en él, de ahí que medios de comunicación lo hayan calificado de 'narco-santo', pero no toman en cuenta las creencias de gente que nada tiene que ver con el tráfico de drogas, sino con la creencia que se desarrolla de figuras fuera de la Iglesia católica que son veneradas por gente, generalmente de estrato humilde, que le atribuye una serie de milagros.”
“What made the Malverde worship visible was economic power and the blatan observations of traffickers who believed in him, and later by a media effect that validated him as a “narco-saint”. Unfortunately, this doesn’t take into account the belief of people who have nothing to do with drugs, nor the common practice of worshiping figures not acknowledged by the Catholic Church, especially when it involves people in humble circumstances who have attributed miracles to those figures.”
Investigador del Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), doctorado en sociología por la Universidad de París I y coordinador de la cátedra UNESCO, Transformaciones económicas y sociales relacionadas con el problema internacional, Astorga, de origen sinaloense, realizó uno de sus primeras publicaciones sobre Malverde en Mitología del narcotraficante en México (1995).
Researcher at the Institute of Social Investigation at the Autonomous University of Mexico, with a doctorate in sociology from the University of Paris, and currently coordinator of the UNESCO division “Economic and Social Transformations linked to International problems, Astorga was born in Sinaloa, and first wrote about Malverde in 1995 in “The Mythology of the Narcotrafficker in Mexico”
"En términos sociológicos, relacionar a Malverde sólo con el narcotráfico es privilegiar una parte del fenómeno, la más visible o la más espectacular, la que llama más la atención.”
In sociological terms, to link Malverde only to narcotraffic is to recognize only one part of the phenomenon — the most visible or the most spectacular— that which brings the most attention!”
Jesús Juárez Mazzo, un bandido generoso -como Chucho El Roto-, que robaba a los ricos y cuyo botín repartía a los pobres en la época del porfiriato, según se cuenta, y cuya fecha de muerte se acepta como el 3 de mayo de 1909, día de su fiesta, es descrito así por la investigadora y crítica de arte Ida Rodríguez Prampolini, El culto a Jesús Malverde, editado por Contrapunto en Veracruz:
The history of Jesus Juarez Mazzo, a benevolent bandit — like that of Chucho El Roto—who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor during the Porfiriato period, and whose feast day is the day of his death on May 3rd, 1909 is elaborated more completely by researcher and art critic Ida Rodriguez Prampolini in her book “the Cult of Jesus Malverde” (published by Contrapunto in Veracruz)”
"La leyenda dice que después de muerto su cuerpo permaneció colgado en un mezquite por órdenes del gobernador, y para escarmiento de sus seguidores no debería dársele sepultura. Nadie se atrevía a bajarlo, hasta que un arriero que pasó por el lugar lo hizo, cubriendo los restos con piedras, no sin antes pedir a su espíritu que le ayudara a encontrar una mula cargada de oro que tenía perdida, la encontró y comenzó a difundir el culto de Malverde milagroso."
“Legend says that after his death, his body was hung in a mesquite tree by order of the governor, and he was forbidden burial as a warning to Malverde’s followers. No one dared to take the body down until a passing mule-skinner did so, and covered his remains with rocks, but not before asking Malverde’s spirit to find a missing mule that was loaded with gold. The mule was recovered, and the cult of a miraculous Malverde began to spread.
Ahí mismo se explica que el nombre de "Malverde" no está bien fundamentado, algunos dicen que era porque robaba envuelto en hojas de plátano para perderse entre la naturaleza tropical de la zona; otros más hacen referencia a las supersticiones del lugar, pues al diablo le llaman el "verde", es decir, un mal diablo. O quizá la más acertada en referencia a la hoja de mariguana como "el mal verde".
The same author explains that the origin of Malverde’s name is not well documented, and some say that it came from a practice of disguising himself with banana leaves to elude capture amongst the natural vegetation of the region; others make reference to the superstitions of the place, and the devil was called “the green one” — the bad devil. Or perhaps, it is a reference to the marijuana leaf which was called the “bad green”.
Astorga explica que la creencia común de esta figura se desarrolló porque la mayoría de los traficantes de clases populares lo adoptaron por medio de familiares y generaciones anteriores que compartían la creencia, independientemente del trabajo al que se dedicaban.
Astorga explains that common worship of this figure evolved when a majority of traffickers from popular (lower) classes adopted it through their contact with relatives and earlier generations who had shared the belief, independently of the work they did.
"La gente que lo asocia únicamente con eso (tráfico de drogas) está perdiendo de vista la característica antropológica y la dimensión histórica, que es importante para entender el porqué de la persistencia de la creencia."
People who link this belief only to drug traffic miss the broader anthropological characteristics and historical aspects playing a major part in the persistence of this worship.
La figura completa del santo porta un sombrero, una escuadra colgada en el cuello y una faja de dinero que le sale de los bolsos, y su rostro es una mezcla de Pedro Infante y Jorge Negrete.
A complete image of this saint wears a hat, has a bandana around his neck, and a stack of bills stuffed in his pockets; and his face is a blending of those matinee and musical idols Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete.
El personaje fue llevado al teatro en Sinaloa y recorrió con éxito varios estados del país, obra célebre del dramaturgo sinaloense Óscar Liera (1946-1990), titulada El jinete de la Divina Providencia, basada precisamente en la leyenda urbana del santo y publicada en 2008 por el Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE) en Teatro Escogido, Óscar Liera.
The figure of Malverde was brought to the stage in Sinaloa and had a long successful run in several Mexican states, through a play called “The Horseman of Divine Providence” by Sinaloan playwrite Oscar Liera (1946-1990), and which included the urban legends of this saint. The play was also published and distributed in 2008 by the Fondo de Cultura Economica (FCE).

En referencia a la comercialización de imágenes o figuras alusivas al mundo del narco, Astorga dice que "vivimos en una sociedad capitalista, una sociedad de consumo en la que todo es comerciable, no habría por qué ser distinto a otros países, a menos que existieran alguna serie de impedimentos, pero aquí no es posible".
With respect to the commercialization of Malverde’s image and other allusions to the narco world, Astorga says that “we live in a capitalist society just like other countries, and we’re a consumer society where everything is for sale unless roadblocks are put in the way, and that isn’t possible here”
El investigador explica que es erróneo referirse con conceptos académicos al respecto, pues en su opinión son etiquetas mediáticas que construyen un lenguaje especial:
This social researcher explains that it would be a mistake to try to interpret with academic concepts, because in his opinion these ideas are media labels that fit it into their special language.
"No hay mucha imaginación al respecto, con el prefijo de 'narco' se hace referencia a la visión de lo que los medios piensan es el mundo del narcotraficante, pero no hay nada más."
“It’s not very imaginative in that respect, since the prefix “narco” is added to whatever the media wants to link to the narcotraffic world, but it remains little more than a label”
Comenta que la creencia en Malverde, en la Santa Muerte, y en otros santos también asociados al mundo de la delincuencia, dependen del "origen y trayectoria social, del capital cultural y, por supuesto, de la jerarquía que tienen al respecto; en el mundo de los traficantes, mientras más alta es la jerarquía más se acercan a la de los santos oficiales. Los santos o figuras religiosas en las que creen, mientras más alto nivel tienen en el negocio, se van acercando más a la sociedad legal".
He added that belief in Malverde, in Holy Death, and other saints linked to the world of crime, comes from an “origin and social trajectory, from cultural capital, and certainly sits within an established hierarchy of importance; and in the drug-trafficking world, the worship of “official saints” is more important. Even so, saints or religious figures fall further down the scale of importance than does business, and in that respect narcotraffickers share a great deal with a legal society”.
Astorga Almanzá también es miembro del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores y de la Academia Mexicana de Ciencias. Entre sus publicaciones destacan: Drogas sin fronteras (2003) y Seguridad, traficantes y militares (2007), además de diversos artículos en revistas científicas. En abril de 2008, se realizó en Sinaloa el Foro Internacional sobre Drogas Ilícitas, donde participó con una conferencia magistral en referencia a este último libro.
Luis Astorga Almanzá is also a member of the National System of Researchers and of the Mexican Academy of Science. Several of his pubications are widely recognized for their excellence: “Drugs without Borders” (2003) and “Security, traffickers and the military” (2007) and he has also published many studied in distinguished articles in academic journals. In April of 2008, he participated in the International Forum Examining Illegal Drugs, where he was a keynote speaker on themes described in his 2007 book.
Acerca de la Sesión Especial de la Asamblea General de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (UNGASS) sobre drogas, mediante el Segmento de Alto Nivel de la Comisión de Estupefacientes, donde se discutirán las políticas de control de drogas, según destaca su página web, el investigador comenta:
In speaking about the Special Session of the General United Nations Assembly over drugs, he is chair of a section of the High Commission on Narcotics, where politics of drug control are considered. On his web page, Astorga says:
"Yo creo que aquí se van a plantear varias tendencias sobre drogas y democracia, una posición que pretende tomar medidas adoptadas por países europeos en equilibrar la política con una visión preventiva; por ejemplo, al descriminalizar el consumo de drogas, como la mariguana, hasta cierto tipo de consumo."
“I believe that this is where we can lay a groundwork for examining several trends relating to drugs and democracy, a place that can take into account many measures adopted by European countries to balance politics with their preventive vision; for example, that of decriminalizing consumption of some drugs, for instance marijuana, under some cirumstances”
En referencia a si se pronuncia a favor o en contra de la legalización de esta planta, dice: "Ese tipo de planteamientos son los que están en debate, no tiene sentido decir si estoy a favor o en contra, lo interesante es ver el estado de la discusión y lo que se plantea en los foros internacionales. Eso tiene que ver con la política de salud y un cambio en la percepción de los consumidores de drogas y los grandes traficantes que utilizan la violencia y se confrontan con el Estado."
With respect to whether or not he favours or is opposed to legalization of marijuana, he says: “Those types of proposals are on the table, and I’m not inclined to say whether I personally favour or oppose them; the most important and interesting thing is to get State get involved in a debate and to see what emerges from the international forums. This ought to be about the politics of health and a changing perceptions of drug consumers and the large traffickers using violence to confront the state.”

Translated by J. Creechan

For more information about Malverde in English, see Creechan, James H., and Jorge de la Herran-Garcia. 2005. "Without God or Law: Narcoculture and belief in Jesús Malverde." Religious Studies and Theology 24:53.

Apocalypto...How do the Maya feel?

		Formato de impresión patrocinado por

Mayas excited about new Mel Gibson film

Wire services El Universal Jueves 07 de diciembre de 2006

Scenes of enslaved Maya building temples for a violent, decadent culture in Mel Gibson´s new film "Apocalypto" may ring true for many of today´s Mayas, who earn meager wages in construction camps, building huge tourist resorts on land they once owned

Scenes of enslaved Maya building temples for a violent, decadent culture in Mel Gibson´s new film "Apocalypto" may ring true for many of today´s Mayas, who earn meager wages in construction camps, building huge tourist resorts on land they once owned. Some Mayas are excited at the prospect of the first feature film made in their native tongue, Yucatec Maya. But others among the 800,000 surviving Mayas are worried that Gibson´s hyper-violent, apocalyptic film could be just the latest misreading of their culture by outsiders. "There has been a lot of concern among Mayan groups from Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, because we don´t know what his treatment or take on this is going to be," said Amadeo Cool May of the indigenous defense group "Mayaon," or "We are Maya." "This could be an attempt to merchandize or sell the image of a culture, or its people, that often differs from what that people needs, or wants," Cool May said. Gibson employed Mayas, most of whom live on the Yucatán Peninsula, in the filming of the movie, and says he wants to make the Mayan language "cool" again, and encourage young people "to speak it with pride." The film has been screened for some U.S. Indians, who praised the use of indigenous actors. The Mayas haven´t seen it yet, but like Indians north of the border, they have seen others co-opt their culture, as in high-class Caribbean resorts like the Maya Coast and the Maya Riviera. But the indigenous are largely absent from those beach resorts, where vacationers tour mock "Maya Villages" or watch culturally inaccurate mishmashes with "Maya Dancers" performing in feather headdresses and facepaint. "The owners are often foreigners who buy up the land at ridiculously low prices, build tourism resorts and the Mayas in reality are often just the construction workers for the hotels or, at best, are employed as chamber maids," said Cool May. "Apocalypto" also portrays Maya civilization at a low moment, just before the Spaniards arrived, when declining, quarreling Maya groups were focused more on war and human sacrifice than on the calendars and writing system of the civilization´s bloody but brilliant classical period. Outsiders´ views of the Maya have long been subject to changing intellectual fashions. Until the 1950s, academics often depicted the ancient Mayas as an idyllic, peaceful culture devoted to astronomy and mathematics. Evidence has since emerged that, even at their height, the Mayas fought bloody and sometimes apocalyptic wars among themselves, lending somewhat more credence to Gibson´s approach. Warrior-kings and priests directed periodic wars among the ancient Maya aimed at capturing slaves or prisoners for labor or human sacrifice. Entire cities were destroyed by the wars, and whole forests cut down to build the temples. The latest trendy theory is a largely Internet-based rumor that the Maya long-count calendar predicts a global calamity on Dec. 22, 2012. Some have woven that together with prophecies from the Bible. Mauricio Amuy, a non-Maya actor who participated in the filming of Apocalypto, says the production staff discussed the theory on the set. "We know the Bible talks about prophecies, and that the Mayas spoke of a change of energy on Dec. 22, 2012, and it (the movie) is somewhat focused on that," Amuy said. "People should perhaps take that theory and reflect, and not do these things that are destroying humanity." ENSLAVEMENT While they resisted the Spanish conquest longer than most of the indigenous groups - the Mayas´ last rebellion, the War of the Castes, lasted until 1901 - many were virtually enslaved until the early 1900s on plantations growing sisal, used for rope-making, or in the jungle, tapping gum trees. Discrimination and poverty are probably their greatest enemies today. Just as Gibson´s use of Aramaic in "The Passion of Christ" sparked a burst of interest in that language, some Maya are hoping "Apocalypto! will do the same for their tongue. "I think it is a good chance to integrate the Mayan language ... for people to hear it in movies, on television, everywhere," said Hilaria Mass, a Maya who teaches the language at Yucatán´s state university. Mass, 65, recalls that children were once prohibited from speaking Maya in school. There is still little bilingual education, and many of those who speak Maya can´t read it. One sign of progress is Yucatán radio station XEPET, "The Voice of the Mayas," which began broadcasting in the indigenous language in 1982. While it began with a mixed Spanish-Maya patois, it now broadcasts in 90 percent pure Maya. The station is trying to purge words borrowed from Spanish and revive a purer form of Maya. It broadcasts all sorts of music - from rock to rap to reggae - with Mayan lyrics. Still, the percentage of Maya speakers in Yucatán fell from 37 percent in 2000 to 33.9 percent by 2005. Paradoxically, for a state that advertises the glories of the Maya culture for tourists, it is having a hard time keeping the present-day Maya there; many are migrating to the United States. "For tourists, that´s what sells ... what catches their attention are the archaeological sites," said Diana Canto, director of the Yucatán Institute for the Development of Maya Culture. "We are trying to sell them on the living Mayas too, so that people get to know their cultural richness." Today´s Maya are known mainly for their elaborate rhyming jokes, a cuisine based on pumpkin and achiote seeds, and loose embroidered white clothing. They´re largely peaceful farmers and masons who carry their goods on ubiquitous three-wheeled bicycles over table-flat Yucatán. Interestingly, some Mayas reach much the same conclusion as Gibson´s movie, which focuses on one man´s struggle to save his family as a metaphor for saving the future of a people. "Our culture hasn´t been destroyed, because the family is the base of it," says Maas. "Perhaps some material things have been destroyed, but the real basis of the culture is what a family teaches their children, and that survives, and has survived."

© 2006 Copyright El Universal-El Universal Online

Frida Kahlo's Clothes

The Miami Herald/El Universal English Language paper in Mexico City printed a very interesting story about Frida Kahlo's clothing. The link to El Universal is posted here and should be credited if this story is forwarded or cited. But the story is reprinted below.

Clothing cache sheds light on artist’s life

Wire services El Universal Jueves 30 de noviembre de 2006

The trunk, discovered in the back of an old wardrobe that had been forgotten in an unused bathroom, was like stepping into the past

The trunk, discovered in the back of an old wardrobe that had been forgotten in an unused bathroom, was like stepping into the past. Curators opened the lid to find hundreds of Frida Kahlo´s colorful skirts and blouses, many still infused with the late artist´s perfume and cigarette smoke. It has taken two years to log and restore the nearly 300 articles of clothing. Next summer, the embroidered and sometimes paint- smeared pieces will be put on display at Kahlo´s family home- turned-museum to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the painter´s birth. The exhibit will offer the public a new glimpse into Kahlo´s flamboyant and tortured life. The wife of muralist Diego Rivera, Kahlo is known as much for her outspoken and sometimes outrageous style as for her intensely personal paintings. She survived a horrible trolley car crash and polio as a child, was openly bisexual and had an affair with Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Her tumultuous life has inspired several plays and films, including the 2002 movie "Frida," starring Salma Hayek. Kahlo was known in part for her fashion leadership, and was featured on the cover of Vogue´s French edition. While most women at that time were turning toward simple, elegant dresses, Kahlo was wearing long, full skirts that borrowed heavily from Mexico´s traditional indigenous dress. She often had her hair in braids, and refused to remove a mustache or trim her unibrow, both of which she exaggerated in her signature self-portraits. The trunk of clothes was found in 2004 during a renovation of her family´s home, where she died in 1954 after a life of nearly constant pain and dozens of surgeries for broken bones she suffered in the trolley accident. Inside were dresses, tablecloths and a letter from Rivera. The clothes were a window into Kahlo´s life. The curators of her museum were struck not only by the actual garments, but by the fact that they still smelled of Kahlo. "There is still a trace of that very particular odor," said Magdalena Rosen Zweig, who helped restore the clothing. "It´s ... the smell of a person, cigarettes, perfume. It´s a very particular smell, something that makes the clothing come alive. It´s something that helps you understand a person." Some of the skirts were stained by Kahlo´s oil paint, and one had a small, scorched hole from a cigarette. "We respected that during the restoration process ... because it is part of history," Rosen Zweig said in an interview. The clothing was fumigated, studied, logged and photographed for an exhibit catalog. Besides providing a comprehensive look at Kahlo´s style, the clothes also reveal how tiny she was. Rivera, more than 6 feet tall and about 300 pounds, towered over the 5-foot-3 Kahlo, who weighed less than 100 pounds. The disparity prompted Kahlo´s mother to nickname the couple "the elephant and the dove." "She has such a small waist," Rosen Zweig said. "You can´t find mannequins her size. She had a tiny waist and a very small back. Everything about her was tiny." Her body, crippled by disease and the accident, was the main topic of many of her paintings - stark self-portraits that depicted her unending pain and inability to have children. She noted that the clothes showed how Kahlo´s style evolved. As a young woman, she wore high-neck blouses and black gloves that may have belonged to her mother. Later, she mixed loose-fitting dresses with ornate necklaces, earrings, flowers and hair ribbons. Rosen Zweig hopes the new exhibit will spark interest in native Mexican textiles and clothing. She said it was hard to calculate the value of the clothes. "You can´t put a price on the rescue of this collection," she said.

© 2006 Copyright El Universal-El Universal Online

Giant Tamales: Zacahuiles

In parts of Hidalgo, giant tamales are made for fiestas. Here are two links to information about los tamales grandes de Hidalgo y la huasteca.

Mexico Desconocido: Zacahuil (English)

La Jornada: Lo Mas Grande de todos los Zacahuiles (Espanol)

The picture above is from the travel magazine Mexico Desconocido.

Modern Twist to Ancient Traditions

Celebrations of Day of the Dead are thriving in Mexico, and the great diaspora of Mexicans living across la linea (approximately 7-8 million) has increased in popularity throughout the American southwest. Las Calacas (skeletons, bones) now have an iconic status on the American side of the border!

Day of the Dead is rooted in ancient customs — both Aztec and Catholic — but, it's not immune to the impact of modernization and globalization. I've attached an internet link and a news report from the November 2 issue of La Jornada online: it describes research intended to genetically modify the golden flower placed on traditional ofrendas (home altars) and brought to the panteones (graveyards) for the Day of the Dead ceremonies on Nov. 1 and 2. The Mexican scientists hope to improve on natural brilliance.

Perhaps these Mexican scientists are motivated by the historical usurpation of another Mexican flower and they are doing this with the best intention. It is possible that they're simply establishling a Mexican proprietary claim to cempasúchil and to protect cultural claims to the Day of the Dead traditions. After all, the Christmas plant that we all place in our homes in December — the Poinsettia — was also a native Aztec plant that was also used in colonial Mexico for the cultural tradions of Christmas and las posadas. In Mexico, the Poinsettia is still called by its original name — La Flor de Noche Buena (the flower of holy night). It was an American, Joel Roberts Poinset, who introduced it into the US after he discovered it and issued a patent on it (see the history of Poinsettia) . The usurpation of custom was so thorough that the native Flor de Noche Buena was even banned from import into the US and supported by American patent law.

The matter of genetic modification is a thorny and significant — issue in Mexico. Natural variants of corn used for tortillas are gradually being replaced by genetically modified versions where the seeds are controlled by transnational groups— much to the dismay of Mexicans. They're not simply worried about the unknown long-term impacts on nutrition and flavour— they're genuinely concerned about long-term economic impact on agricultural production in Mexico. ¿Fijase?(would you believe)— the largest tortilla maker in Mexico has just opened a massive tortilla production plant in Shanghai China!

The following article is in Spanish...the original link is in La Jornada from Nov. 2, 2006

Modifican genéticamente la flor de cempasúchil; mejora pigmentos

Se usa como suplemento alimenticio de aves de corral y colorante de las yemas de huevo

JOSE GALAN

Buena fuente de carotenoides, la flor de muertos tapiza con su amarillo intenso tumbas y ofrendas. La imagen, en el Panteón de Dolores este primero de noviembre Foto María Meléndrez Parada

La flor de cempasúchil, típica de esta época y que durante las tradicionales fiestas de Día de Muertos adorna con su clásico color amarillo intenso las ofrendas, los altares y panteones de todo México, ha sido modificada genéticamente por un grupo de científicos mexicanos para obtener mejores pigmentos de uso agropecuario e industrial.

La flor genéticamente mejorada por Octavio Paredes López, ex presidente de la Academia Mexicana de Ciencias y miembro del Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Cinvestav-IPN) Unidad Irapuato, junto con sus colaboradores, produce pigmentos más intensos obtenidos de compuestos llamados xantofilas, en especial uno de ellos, la luteína, contenida en la "flor de muertos".

Los científicos identificaron varios genes como los denominados Psy, Pds, Lcy-b y Lcy-e, que están presentes en las sustancias que conforman el pigmento principal que le da el típico color amarillo a las flores llamadas científicamente Erecta tapetes, y que es una buena fuente de carotenoides, producto nutracéutico (nutritivo y con propiedades medicinales) de gran interés mundial.

"Nativa de México, se ha utilizado desde hace siglos como planta ornamental y medicinal", señala Paredes López, quien recientemente entró a formar parte de la Junta de Gobierno de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). "Se cultiva comercialmente y los extractos de la flor se usan como suplementos alimenticios de aves de corral y como colorante de las yemas de huevo."

Los pigmentos de carotenoides son precursores de la vitamina A en el ser humano y en animales, y se les ha asociado con aspectos medicinales en la prevención de enfermedades como el cáncer y males cardiovasculares.

De acuerdo con estudios de la compañía BBCResearch, el mercado mundial de carotenoides llegará a cerca de mil millones de dólares al finalizar 2006, y se estima un crecimiento anual de 3 por ciento. En el caso específico de la luteína obtenida del cempasúchil por Paredes López, se estima que en este año el mercado superará los 150 millones de dólares.

Benéfico para los humanos

Además de la pigmentación de huevos y alimentación animal, se usa como colorante de la carne de pollo, y desde 2000 se ha empleado en suplementos alimenticios humanos, por sus efectos benéficos en la reducción de radicales libres y contra la enfermedad macular degenerativa (que daña la retina) relacionada con el envejecimiento.

Cempasúchil quiere decir "flor de veinte pétalos" en náhuatl, pero con el avance de Paredes López, publicado en varios artículos de revistas como Journal of Plant Physiology y Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, se obtuvo una planta con una mayor densidad de pétalos y una elevada concentración de pigmentos.

Paredes López, ganador del Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en 1991, ha mejorado los métodos de extracción de las xantofilas obtenidas de las paredes de las células de los pétalos de cempasúchil, los procedimientos de propagación in vitro de las plantas, y la producción de harinas con alto contenido de xantofilas.

Disminuye la producción nacional

Aunque la flor de cempasúchil es nativa de nuestro país, donde hay 32 de las 55 especies conocidas, su producción nacional ha disminuido y el mercado internacional de carotenoides está siendo cubierto por países como China, Perú y la India, que buscan modificar genéticamente estas plantas para obtener mejores pigmentos.

De hecho, gran parte de la producción de cempasúchil en nuestro país está orientada al uso ornamental de las festividades de Día de Muertos, y se ha desestimado la investigación biotecnológica que le permitiría a México competir en el mercado de los pigmentos de origen vegetal, como la flor transgénica desarrollada por Paredes López.

"El gobierno y el sector agrícola no invierten en la investigación biotecnológica que permitiría incrementar los cultivos de cempasúchil mejorado ni de otras plantas tradicionales como la nochebuena y el amaranto", dijo Paredes López, uno de los biotecnólogos más importantes del país.

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Flower of the Dead

Today is the day of the dead and Mexicans visit the grave site of their deceased loved ones and family. Extra police and traffic-control are assigned to patrol camposantos and grave-yards of all Mexican cities and towns. The streets and roads leading to the cemeteries are congested and it's often necessary to put up barricades to control the traffic.

"El dia de muertos" is celebrated according to timeless rituals and traditions rooted in Aztec cultural practice. One central tradition is a dominant display of the golden-yellow marigold-like flower named the cempasúchil or cempoalxóchitl. It's used to decorate specially constructed "ofrendas al difuntos (altars memorializing the deceased)" erected in homes for the occasion, and cempoalxóchitl petals are spread around tombs and along the paths winding through the cemeteries. Xóchitl means "flower" in the Nahuatl language and "cempoalli" means 20.

The number 20 is important and sacred in Aztec mythology. Aztec society relied on two calendars to mark the passage of days. A "secular" calendar (xiuhpohualli) used 18 months of 20 "lucky days" and an extra "5 unlucky days". A sacred calendar (tonalpohualli) – the book of days — has a more important divinatory role. There are 20 days and each is associated with a day sign and with a specific god: the twentieth day has the flower for a day sign (Xóchitl) and is associated with the god Xochiquetzal.

A short description of the cempoalxóchitl and its importance to Day of the Dead can read at the following link.

http://www.noroeste.com/web/ver_imp_nota.php?IDPub=215290

An excellent web-site that explains the Aztec Calendar is found at

http://www.azteccalendar.com/azteccalendar.html

PHRASE of the WEEK: el robo hormiga

el robo hormiga

Mexican vernacular has many interesting terms and phrases describing electoral fraud.

In the days of PRI hegemony, fraudulent practises were described by many unique and colorful terms such as el carrusel (carousel) — the practise of making party regulars "go around" from polling station to polling station to vote several times for the PRI. Most forms of fraud were reduced— if not eradicated— by electoral reforms instituted by IFE (Mexico's Electoral Voting Institute).

However, one form of electoral "cheating" that's more difficult to control is called "robo hormiga"...or "the robbery by the ants". This is a wonderfully rich expression that probably came from the South of Mexico and Mayan traditions. Ants can take even the largest things away "tiny piece by tiny piece" as long as there are enough of them working together.

In terms of elections, "el robo hormiga" refers to the cumulative outcome when "a few missing ballots here...and a few missing ballots there" add up to a lot of uncounted votes at the end of the day. Many Mexicans believe that undercounting routinely happens in the more remote and isolated electoral polling stations among the 300 electoral districts (each has about 330,000 voters) . One reason that Mexican ballot boxes are "transparently clear plastic" is to provide visible assurance that all deposited ballots remain in the "box" and cannot been stolen by the ants in the "dark".

The electoral process in Mexico is modern and efficient, and there is absolutely no question that it does an excellent job in processing what "is there". But, like all empirical tools, it has a much more difficult time demonstrating "why something might not be there" and "what didn't happen". When something "disappears all at once", it's easier to trace than when there is a gradual dimishment.

The "ant" imagery is a metaphor that Mexicans, especially la gente de la tierra y los pobres, appreciate. One of the stories told about the conquest of Mexico is that several Mayan villages had the conquistadores on the run and at the point of defeat during their first incursions into the Yucatan. But the Mayan leaders and warriors decided that it was more important for them to go home because "flying ant season" had arrived. (See Thomas, Hugh. 1993. Conquest : Montezuma, Cortés, and the fall of Old Mexico. New York: Simon & Schuster)

Apocryphal or not, the story is a wonderful example of a Mexican viewpoint among those who have very little! What little is there, must be protected against even the most invisible of enemies. Visitors to Mexico are puzzled by the "strange custom" of painting the lower part of tree-trunks with a white coating, and don't realize that this is an ancient strategy of protecting the trees from being stripped by ants and other insects. It's necessary to be aware of the big threat, but it's even more important to guard against the small ones that produce a cumulative disaster.

The picture above was taken by Carlos Ramos and published in the July 8, 2006 edition of La Jornada online (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/07/08/index.php). The caption on the photo read:

"Andrés Manuel López Obrador al salir ayer de su casa de campaña en la colonia Roma. Su equipo de abogados acopia pruebas de las anomalías que ocurrieron en decenas de miles de casillas durante las elecciones del 2 de julio"
English Translation:"Andrés Manuel López Obrador leaving the campaign headquarters in Colonia Roma yesterday. His team of lawyers were gathering evidence of anomalies that took pace in dozens of polling stations during the elections of July 2"

The PRD continues to believe that hundreds of thousands of their votes have disappeared and have not been counted. Unfortunately, IFE's attempt to provide an open and transparent process may have unintentionally promoted the "robo hormiga" sentiment. As computer votes were posted in la madrugada of July 6, the PRD lead was nibbled away and became a loss. The end result appeared to be an electronic robo de hormiga.

The sign on the building behind AMLO uses the widely used crudity "pinche". This is a word that is hard to literally translate, but it is always used as a descritive adjective to "diminish the quality or worth" of an object. For instance, a Mexican might refer to his "pinche coche" if he wanted to describe his "shitty car" or with other slang workds like "friggin' rustbucket". Pinche is very widely used and is considered crude in polite circles.