Celebrate Pride at Oaxaca’s Annual Parade this June

Color and culture unite in the streets of Mexico’s Oaxaca.

People dancing during parade. Imogen Volland.

It was an overcast day late June, but downtown Oaxaca was anything but dreary. The cobblestone streets were an explosion of laughter and music, the adobe buildings adorned with flags and banners. The parade was a party and everyone was invited. We weaved our way through the bustling streets, singing along to the Selena song blasting from a nearby speaker, passing by bakeries, bars, markets and boutiques.

Last year, I had the privilege of attending Oaxaca’s annual pride parade, which attracts hundreds of locals and tourists alike. Located in southwestern Mexico, Oaxaca is nestled in the Sierra Madre mountain range. The region is renowned for its mouthwatering cuisine, including mole, tlayuda, enfrijoladas and chocolate. It also boasts a vibrant arts scene. The winding streets are adorned with murals, and the region is famous for its handicrafts including candle making, pottery and embroidery. Even with a population of over 300,000, Oaxaca feels like a small town. With pride month expanding worldwide, corporations are finding new ways to capitalize off of the movement, however, the pride parade in Oaxaca is not commercially sponsored. It’s a community effort, celebrating inclusivity, unity and belonging in a historically Catholic country.

People carrying flags during parade. Imogen Volland.

Historically occupied by the Zapotec and Mixtec tribes, Oaxaca has a rich culture steeped in indigenous heritage, celebrated during the Guelaguetza festival in July. The Zapotecs occupied Oaxaca from 500 BCE to 900 CE and were followed by the Mixtecs around 1350 CE. Zapotec culture is unique in that it wasn’t rooted in conquest, and masculinity was associated with more “feminine” hobbies like art, craftsmanship and dance. A third gender is recognized in Zapotec culture, the muxe (also spelled muxhe), people who were assigned male at birth who dress or behave more “feminine.” Gender non-conformity in non-Western cultures dates back centuries. The two-gender binary system prevalent in Western cultures was a product of colonization and imperialism, in which Indigenous tribes were forced to surrender their cultural traditions, including the acknowledgement of a third gender. The Muxe still occupy Oaxaca today, defying heteronormative standards and carrying on the Zapotec tradition.

In 2012, the Supreme Court overturned a law preventing same-sex marriages in Oaxaca. Since the legalization of same-sex marriage across all of Mexico in 2022, Oaxaca has rapidly become one of the country’s most gay-friendly hotspots, featuring a variety of gay-owned and gay-friendly shops, restaurants and bars. Cuizzita Cafe is a queer-owned, community-oriented coffee shop with a casual, comfortable atmosphere, offering board games, puzzles and books for customers to use. Club 502 is Oaxaca’s first gay club with mixed drinks, dancing, karaoke and drag shows. Confetti Pool Club is a queer-owned hostel with a pool, swim-up bar, rooftop seating and live music. The hostel is a six-minute walk from the Mitla archeological site.

People carrying posters on platform. Imogen Volland.

This year, Oaxaca’s annual pride parade will be held on Saturday, June 22 at 3 p.m. from the Fuente de las Ocho Regiones. For more information about the parade, as well as other upcoming pride events in Mexico, follow the link here. For a celebration of life, and of love, I highly recommend visiting Oaxaca this June. Happy Pride Month!

Agnes Volland

Agnes is a student at UC Berkeley majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies and minoring in Creative Writing, with a research focus on road trip culture in America. She currently writes for BARE Magazine and Caravan Travel & Style Magazine. She is working on a novel that follows two sisters as they road trip down Highway 40, from California to Oklahoma. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in journalism, publishing, or research.

7 Sites of Mexico City’s Architectural Diversity, from Baroque to Brutalist

Mexico City is a flourishing metropolis with a plethora of historic and modernist architectural sites. Here are a few attractions scattered around the city.

A street at the center of Mexico City. Flickr user Franx’. CC BY-NC 2.0.

A Gothic cathedral sits next to a glassy business building. Brick houses with arabesque detailing overlook the noisy streets full of men in suits and street food vendors. Mexico City is growing every year; its multiplicity of neighborhoods hosts a variety of architectural styles and people from all over the globe. Often regarded as an oasis of modernity in the entirety of Latin America, this urban center has been labeled the “next Paris'' or as a new version of New York. Given its history of colonialism and its willful modernization under Porfirio Diaz, Mexico City’s compilation of architecture is oftentimes representative of its past and present. Here’s a cursory glance at a few of Mexico City’s sites of modernization, and the contradictions at play in these structures. 

The Central Library of the National Autonomous University on a gloomy day. Mark Hogan. CC BY-SA 2.0.

1. Central Library of the National Autonomous University

Juan O’Gorman’s Central Library of the National Autonomous University (UNAM) is a spectacle to behold. This behemoth holds the qualities of international modernist architecture: its 14-story frame sits above a glassy ground floor which looks over a neatly gridded yard. Yet, O’Gorman’s building doesn’t possess the stoicism of standard midcentury modern architecture; its distinctively Mexican-themed mural makes the building a historic storybook. Like a visual epic, the “Historical Representation of Culture” mural includes the expansive timeline of pre-conquest Mexico, the Spanish conquest, Mexican modernization and Mexico’s future. One can spot mosaics of the beginnings of Tenochtitlan, and the clash between pre-Hispanic Mexico and vehicles of Spanish colonialism. O’Gorman believed his mosaics of these cultural signifiers would make the library “different from the rest of the buildings within University City” by giving it a distinctly “Mexican character.” 

A corner of the exterior of Casa Luis Barragan. Forgemind Archimedia. CC BY 2.0.

2. Casa Luis Barragan

Casa Luis Barragan, which was built in 1948, looks as if it were suspended in time and space: colorful red walls jut into the placid blue sky, although they are immobile in detail and structure. Luis Barragan is a world-renowned architect whose eccentric architectural style can be recognized in his buildings’ solid colors, geometric shapes and sparsity of details. This vibrant house is a foil of O’Gorman’s direct homage to Mexico as a nation; it highlights formalist qualities over political values, which Barragan considered secondary to his architecture. Barragan is an expert at manipulating elements of nature. The play of shadows within the structure itself and the use of greenery turns an otherwise intimidating monument into a livable habitat. Although countless travel journals have attached Mexican modernist themes to Barragan’s home, it resists the supposed markers of “Mexican” aesthetics and remains a private site of great accomplishment.

Thousands visit the Basilica de Guadalupe daily. Alex Marduk. CC BY 2.0.

3. Basilica de Guadalupe 

Pedro Ramirez Vazquez’s seminal work, the Basilica de Guadalupe, is a sacred destination for thousands of Catholics around the world. The area it sits on, Tepeyac, was originally a place where Aztecs worshipped Tonantzin, or “the divine mother.” As a result of the suppression of Aztec religions during Spanish occupation, the Basilica de Guadalupe was built for Our Lady of Guadalupe who was said to have appeared before St. Juan Diego. The original colonial basilica was severely damaged in 1921 in a bomb attack, but Vazquez’s new Basilica de Guadalupe renovated the sacred site. This site was just one of Vazquez’s projects dedicated to industrializing Mexico, as shown in its modernist disk shape and the sheer mass of its structure.

Monumento a la Revolucion sitting at the city center. Ismael Villafranco. CC BY 2.0.

4. Monumento a la Revolucion

Located in the Cuauhtemoc borough of Mexico City, Monumento a la Revolucion is a stately memorial which celebrates the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Mirroring many of the United States’ federal buildings in Washington, the monument’s perfectly symmetrical Roman dome is fortified by brick pillars which meet at the four corners of the structure. Carlos Obregon Santacilia continued the project after it had been abandoned by both the state and the French architect they commissioned for the building, Emile Benard. Oliverio Martinez’s smooth sculptural representations of independence, reform, agrarian laws and labor laws protect the mausoleum on its four corners. In this marriage of neoclassical elements and Mexican nationalism, the Mexican government actively constructs its origin story via the conventions of Roman and French architecture.

Close-up shot of Martinez’s sculpture on Monumento a la Revolucion. Flickr user tchelseat. CC BY-NC 2.0.

A view of the facade of La Santisima Church. Wikimedia user Protoplasmakid. CC BY-SA 3.0.

5. La Santisima Church

La Santisima Church is covered in the Spanish churrigueresque style, which is the Baroque style that was dominant in Spain during the 18th century. Its facades are adorned with ornate carvings of the apostles, angels, Jesus and Mary placed in between its many columns. Although it appears relatively normal in a city full of extravagant churches, the distinctive religious iconography on its exterior deems La Santisima Church worthy of close attention.

Museo Soumaya shines brightly on sunny days. Flickr user Dan. CC BY 2.0.

6. Museo Soumaya

No piece of architecture screams “contemporary” like the Museo Soumaya. Museo Soumaya, which houses thousands of sculptures and paintings from pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica up to European impressionist works, is a piece of art itself. The Plaza Carso building in particular is an intriguing malformed shape dressed in millions of aluminum hexagons. Taking inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim in New York, Fernando Romero designed the Plaza Carso as an enigma: the concept behind the work is intentionally vague, and the usefulness of its parabolic shape questionable. 

Front view of Museo Anahuacalli. Javier Castañón. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

7. Museo Anahuacalli

Although Diego Rivera is widely known for his painted murals, his exploration of three-dimensional design is just as noteworthy. Rivera’s Museo Anahuacalli was made of his own accord; Rivera wanted a space for his collection of over 50,000 relics of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. The style of the building is an amalgam of various Mesoamerican styles, taking inspiration from Teotihuacan and the temples of the Mayans and Aztecs. The exterior of the museum has the symmetry of neoclassical architecture, while its interior is heavily influenced by the Aztec pyramid. 

Many scholars speculate that the development of uniquely “Mexican” architecture, seen through Mexico City’s plethora of sites, stems from a desire for national representation. Mexico City’s postcolonial realities are found in its very infrastructure: one cannot ignore the presence of Catholicism, the reminders of a pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, and the complications of deliberate industrialization. Juan O’Gorman’s library attempts to artfully marry the past, present and future. Casa Barragan is the work of a maverick who resists the narrative of a national architecture. The grandiose Basilica de Guadalupe is holy ground for millions of Catholics, yet it strays from the Gothic style of typical European cathedrals. 

The sheer amount of voices and styles in this sprawling metropolis is telling of its complicated relationship with modernization. There is no shortage of historic, formal, religious and artistic values in each of Mexico City’s buildings. 

Heather Lim

Heather recently earned her B.A. in Literatures in English from University of California, San Diego. She was editor of the Arts and Culture section of The Triton, a student-run newspaper. She plans on working in art criticism, which combines her love of visual art with her passion for journalism.  

Asylum-Seeking Children Arrive at US Border Unaccompanied 

As crime and violence has increased in Mexico and Central America, there has been a notable increase in asylum-seekers. More than ever, children are entering the United States with no trace of a guardian or parent. 

Painting of Migrant Child Arriving in 2018 at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Dan Lacey. CC BY-NC 2.0

Central America has been hit with ongoing gang violence, poverty, lack of opportunity and unemployment. The pandemic has worsened the situation for many, and in November 2020, hurricanes Eta and Iota displaced 3 million people. The dire need for lives to be improved has pushed Central Americans toward attempting to migrate to the U.S., no matter how high the stakes. Throughout the years, children have accompanied parents in their migration journeys. However, in 2019, children began arriving to the US border alone when the parents realized the U.S government was allowing unaccompanied children to stay if they had traveled alone.

A report conducted by UNICEF notes that children makeup  30% of all migrants and asylum-seekers in Central America and Mexico.  In addition, 15% of the children arriving (half) are not accompanied by any adult or family member. This makes it difficult for border patrol agents to get in contact with the child’s parents and/or guardian. Children as young as 6 years old have been taken into custody, demonstrating the families’ desperate need to remove the children from the living conditions they are in. Once in custody, the children are taken to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stations before they are transferred to an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter. CBP stations are often in filthy and overcrowded conditions unsuitable for children. Although there are standards to guide the treatment of unaccompanied children, little oversight exists to ensure they are treated humanely and cared for according to child-appropriate protocols while in CBP custody.

In an attempt to deter Central Americans from coming to the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entered into an agreement in 2018 requiring these agencies to share information about individuals attempting to reunify with an unaccompanied child. The information was then used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain family members, ultimately creating a domino effect. Parents and loved ones of unaccompanied children lived under fear that stepping forward to sponsor the child would trigger their own detention and deportation. This agreement also dramatically prolonged lengths of stay for children in ORR custody. In March 2021, the Biden administration ended a large portion of the sponsor information sharing agreement, though it remains unclear how the prior agreement continues to taint or pause the reunification process for children’s caregivers. 

Children held in ORR custody usually trust case managers, clinicians, therapists or other adults with extensive personal information. Children often were unaware that these details could be shared with ICE. Once shared, children’s ORR records were used against them in their asylum applications. The story of teen Kevin Euceda published in 2020 is an example of how ORR therapy note records were used against children in immigration proceedings. Euceda was asked to speak freely about his life and told it would be kept confidential. Feeling like his therapist was a safe space to speak about his life, Euceda shared that MS-13 gang members forced him to run errands and sell drugs from the age of 12. When he was ordered to kill a stranger, Euceda ran. 

His therapists was expected to submit pages of notes over several sessions to his file, however , HHS officials shared the notes with lawyers and ICE without the knowledge of the teen or the therapists. The notes were used against Euceda in immigration court to paint him as a dangerous gang member who should be denied asylum. In sharing those therapy notes, the government did not break any laws.  But it did violate standard professional practices to keep confidentiality between Euceda and his therapists. 

After being detained for three years, Euceda  requested to be sent back to Honduras. He returned to his native country but crossed over to Guatemala to be reunited with his sister who resided there. A month later, he was found dead on the side of the road. 

Since President Biden took office, there has been a spike in unaccompanied migrant children. The increase in arrivals has left an unprepared administration to scramble for solutions and shelter. Children are being kept longer than the 72-hour limit set by the federal law. Identifying and vetting an appropriate family member or guardian for each child takes time, which increases when the child has no knowledge or information on his/her relatives who live in the U.S. There is an estimate of  9,980 children in U.S custody today.  

Get Involved: 

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is an organization that serves immigrant and asylum seeking children arriving in the U.S. They provide family reunification, foster care and advocacy. Learn more about Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service here. Support the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service here. 

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is an organization that helps bring high quality lawyers to represent children in immigration court, ensuring that every child does not appear in court alone. Learn more about KIND click here. To Support KIND click here.

Save the Children has been working directly with migrant children since 2019. The organization provides humanitarian aid to children and families that have recently arrived in the U.S. Children are given meals, clothing and shelters with child friendly spaces. Learn more about Save the Children click here. To support Save the Children click here 

Jennifer is a Communications Studies graduate based in Los Angeles. She grew up traveling with her dad and that is where her love for travel stems from. You can find her serving the community at her church, Fearless LA or planning her next trip overseas. She hopes to be involved in international humanitarian work one day.

Rising Tides of Trouble: Piracy Amidst a Pandemic

As the pandemic threatens lives globally, it has allowed for unseen tragedies to take hold: Naval vessels are increasingly vulnerable to piracy.

Royal Marines on Counter Piracy Operations Near Somalia. Defense Images. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Many adverse effects result from the pandemic lasting for nearly two years, including one that landlubbers are likely unaware of. For over a year, COVID-19 has exacerbated a problem that has permeated the seas for centuries: piracy.

In the first six months of 2020, fifty armed attacks at sea were recorded throughout Asia, twice as many than the year prior. Though the attacks spanned from the South China Sea to Bangladeshi coasts, Maritime Southeast Asia is the true threat for commercial naval traffic as most Asian naval attacks are concentrated within the Malacca and Singapore Straits. The region’s island geography is responsible for such prevalence of piracy, featuring dense clusters of three archipelagos whose waters are treacherous and often unsupervised.

Beginning in April 2021, naval hijackings in Central America increased significantly. Mexico’s opening of its oil industry to international investments is suspected to be the cause. As Central American pirates target shipping containers and oil platforms within the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. In addition, transnational criminal networks are lured by prospects of lucrative loot, such as technical equipment sold on the black market and inadequate security in Latin American countries.

Maritime security experts are most concerned about the naval violence surging off of West Africa coastlines. Whereas Asia experiences the highest frequency of piracy, West African waters, specifically within the Gulf of Guinea, suffer from the most severe crimes spanning from armed robbery to crew kidnappings. It’s also challenging to quantify the scale of piracy. Shipping companies may resist reporting pirate-related incidents to insurers. Up to 60% of all naval attacks on merchant vessels, fishing boats or passenger vessels occurring within the Gulf of guinea are unaccounted for. Many incidents of West African piracy take place as far as 100 nautical miles from coastlines, in areas unprotected by coast guards or naval forces.

Worsening Factors

The pandemic’s devastating effect on the global economy has increased poverty and unemployment, incentivizing individuals towards pursuing criminal activities. A decline in international trade has prompted shipping companies to decrease crew sizes and armed guard escorts, normally mitigating naval hijackings. Travel restrictions and border closures forced many vessels to be stranded at sea or port for months, yielding such ships as static quarries for premeditated piracy. Lastly, most nation-states prioritized public safety programs to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 among their land-based populations. Government focus has been redirected from possible threats at sea to definite ones on land. Resources and staffing have been shifted away from the security of bulk carriers, product tankers and container vessels—the types of ships most commonly preyed upon by pirates. Quarantines, fragile port security, and inadequate responses to the virus’s spread have enabled a global rise in piracy. 

Rohan A. Rastogi

Rohan is an engineering graduate from Brown University. He is passionate about both writing and travel, and strives to blend critical thinking with creative communication to better understand the places, problems, and people living throughout the world. Ultimately, he hopes to apply his love for learning and story-sharing skills to resolve challenges affecting justice, equity, and humanity.

Mexico Decriminalizes Abortion, Work Remains to Be Done

The Supreme Court of Mexico determined the criminalization of abortion to be unconstitutional. Yet, economic inequities pose challenging barriers to reproductive rights for many Mexican women.

March for the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City. Diana Caballero. CC BY 2.0.

On September 7 the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled the criminalization of women seeking abortion unconstitutional and established women with a legal right to exercise personal agency regarding their pregnancy.

In striking Article 196 of Coahuila’s Penal Code, the Supreme Court of Mexico determined penalizing women undergoing abortion violates their reproductive freedoms. Additionally, certain sections of Article 198, Article 199 and Article 244 were similarly struck for discriminating against women.

Two days later, the Supreme Court of Mexico invalidated a portion of Sinaloa’s state constitution which recognized a ‘right to life from conception.’ The nation’s highest court declared that federative entities, such as state constitutions, are not able to define the legal conception of personhood. As a result, neither an embryo nor a fetus may claim legal protections which ignore a woman’s rights, including her right to abort.

Reproductive policies in Mexico principally depend upon geography.

After Mexico’s shift toward decentralized governance, the issue of reproductive rights elicited contrasting subnational policy. Certain Mexican states permitted abortion and operated government clinics offering free abortions. Others prosecuted women seeking abortion for manslaughter.

But legal prohibitions of abortion do not discourage women from abortion – they merely endanger them. Dozens of women have been incarcerated for undertaking abortion, alongside doctors forced to renounce medical licenses. Women often risk secret and dangerous abortions, to evade incarceration: these abortions are Mexico’s fourth leading cause of maternal death. Each year 300,000 abortions conducted clandestinely yield serious health problems.

Now, these harms may no longer be legitimized. In its landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Mexico unanimously admitted the “unimaginable human suffering” experienced by women seeking to abort amidst criminalization. Rural and low-income women particularly bear the brunt of the pains incurred by penalization. The women prosecuted for abortion are disproportionately poor because poor women are most likely to end up at public hospitals due to improper abortions. As Supreme Court President Arturo Zaldivar succinctly explains, “Rich girls … have always had abortions and never gone to prison.” Mexico’s punative judgment of women undertaking abortion has been “a crime that punishes poverty.”

It may be a decade until Mexico adopts legalization at the national scope.

Policy changes will immediately occur within only Coahuila and Sinaloa, the two Mexican states the Supreme Court ruled against. Therefore, for decriminalization to spread via the federal judiciary amparo lawsuits, appeals to state abuses grounded in constitutional protections must be filed against each Mexican state opposing abortion from within. The Supreme Court’s rulings may then be cited as precedent to bind the specific state.  

Dr. Caroline Beer, an expert in Mexican politics at the University of Vermont, expects national decriminalization to play out in a process similar to that of same-sex marriage. Some states will voluntarily decriminalize; others will have to be forced. Of Mexico’s thirty-two states, four have decriminalized already, and ten are anticipated to voluntarily decriminalize in the near future. It’s a matter of time and money before sufficient amparos are filed in the eighteen conservative states resisting decriminalization.

March for the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City. Diana Caballero. CC BY 2.0.

Class disparities delineate access to abortion albeit decriminalization.

Concerns remain that a Mexican woman’s ability to exercise her reproductive rights will depend upon her economic means. Mexico could enforce health standards mandating patient access to reproductive services, but without government clinics offering free procedures, it is unlikely lower-class women will have reliable access to safe abortion.

Middle-class and upper-class women either ‘know a doctor’ (who will conduct the abortion competently and confidentially) or fly abroad. “The important thing to understand,” stresses Dr. Beer, “is that legalization of abortion is more an issue of class than an issue of gender.” Poor women publicly suffer criminalization while rich women privately escape it. 

Mexico’s decriminalization may have a modest international impact.

Dr. Beer, who also directs Latin American Studies at UVM, considers Mexico’s decriminalization a sign of the region’s willingness to liberalize attitudes regarding reproductive rights, if not legalize them.

Mexico and Argentina, which legalized abortion in December 2020, are two economic engines with international influence. Their decriminalization will be referenced by neighboring powers such as Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. 

However, not all Latin American countries are moving forward. However, Nicaragua and El Salvador, whose politics operate on strong men authoritarianism, have actually heightened measures to limit women’s rights activism.

Feminist political groups spearheaded Mexico’s decriminalization.

Notably, Mexican President Obrador did not explicitly support women seeking an abortion after the Supreme Court’s rulings. President Obrador leans conservative but has allowed his women’s rights allies to promote reproductive rights themselves. Even though President Obrador may not personally approve of decriminalization, he acknowledges women’s rights organizations and feminists as significant political constituencies.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s rulings incorporate a sensitivity to women’s realities in their jurisprudence. Mexico’s strides to protect women’s rights via decriminalization of abortion stand out among nations regressing backwards, not the least being their immediate northern neighbor.

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Rohan A. Rastogi

Rohan is an engineering graduate from Brown University. He is passionate about both writing and travel, and strives to blend critical thinking with creative communication to better understand the places, problems, and people living throughout the world. Ultimately, he hopes to apply his love for learning and story-sharing skills to resolve challenges affecting justice, equity, and humanity.

A Glimpse into Oaxaca City’s Guelaguetza Festival 

The annual Guelaguetza festival is one of the largest Indigenous celebrations in Mexico, preserving Oaxaca culture and tradition. 

Women performing at the Guelaguetza Festival. Jen Wilton. CC BY 2.0

Oaxaca City’s Guelaguetza festival is a celebration of community and strength that occurs annually on the two Mondays after July 16. Also referred to as “Los Lunes del Cerro,” the festival has been a longstanding tradition in Oaxaca culture that predates Spanish colonization of the land in the 16th century. Although the cultural significance of the festival has shifted over the years, its core value of unity remains deeply rooted in the celebrations. 

Prior to Spanish invasion, the festival had close ties to the religious celebration of the goddess of maize Centéotl in order to ensure a successful harvest season. While Centéotl still has a place in modern Guelaguetza celebrations, after Spanish colonization, festivities began to integrate Christian elements such as the feast day Our Lady of Mount Carmel which occurs on July 16. 

The term “Guelaguetza” means “reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services” in the Zapotec language, which is the overarching structure of the festival. Historically, during Oaxacan celebrations, those attending would each bring some sort of item that was needed for the celebration such as food or supplies. These “guelaguetza” allowed the celebration to exist and exemplified the value of collaboration.

During the Guelaguetza festival in particular, inhabitants of Oaxaca’s eight regions unite, bringing their own unique traditions and knowledge to share with the larger community.  

A couple dancing at the Guelaguetza Festival. Larry Lamsa. CC BY 2.0

Particularly, an exchange of culture occurs through song, dance and clothing. Individuals from each of the eight regions spend months prior to the festival perfecting song and dance routines to perform for the festival's attendees. After performing the number in their region's traditional clothing, they toss significant cultural items into the crowd. This exchange allows Oaxaca’s sub-cultures to not only exist but to thrive. 

In addition to culture, there are plenty of other exchanges that occur during the festival, such as sharing traditional food that is prepared by inhabitants of each region and selling artisanal crafts in the city center.  

The Guelaguetza festival has been traditionally celebrated on Cerro del Fortín, or Fortin Hill, in Oaxaca. In the 1970s an amphitheater was built specifically for the celebration. Seating 11,000 people, the amphitheater was built directly into a hill so that those looking down at the stage are able to clearly view the city below. 

Oaxaca is home to sixteen different Indigenous groups in addition to its eight regions, so there is a vast array of cultures within the larger Oaxaca culture. Annual Guelaguetza celebrations have preserved these cultures over the years despite colonization and increasing tourism in the region, ensuring that Oaxacan traditions and stories will be preserved for coming generations. 

Zara Irshad  

6 Offbeat Travel Destinations in Mexico

Get a glimpse of the real Mexico by visiting these destinations. 

A traditional market in Mexico. Frisoni. CC BY 2.0

There is much more to Mexico than the popular destinations on the coast such as Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. Here are six offbeat destinations that will give travelers different insights into Mexico's fascinating history and culture. 

1. Isla Espiritu Santo

Sunset from Isla Espiritu Santo. Brandauer. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Located off the coast of La Paz in the state of Baja California Sur, the island of Espiritu Santo remains largely untouched by tourism. The island was declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2005 and became a national park in 2007. Espiritu Santo is renowned for its biodiversity, including sea lions, moray eels, whale and hammerhead sharks, manta rays and much more. The natural ecosystem provides a beautiful contrast between ocean and land, including volcanic formations, beaches and deserts. Travelers can partake in numerous outdoor activities such as snorkeling, diving, hiking and kayaking. Espiritu Santo also has rock art and archaeological remains from the Pericu people, an Indigenous group that once lived on the island. 

2. Morelia 

Morelia’s famous cathedral. Adavyd. CC BY-SA 3.0

Nicknamed the “most Spanish city in Mexico” for its colonial architecture, the city of Morelia was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Located in the state of Michoacan, the city is home to the Purepecha Indigenous group that resisted rule from the Aztec empire. Morelia's name comes from Jose Maria Morelos, a celebrated revolutionary during the Mexican independence movement. Notable attractions include the historic center, which is filled with colonial architecture constructed from pink quarry stone. Other attractions include the Morelia Cathedral which dates back to the 1600s, an aqueduct that appears on the 50 peso bill alongside Morelos, and the Morelos Birthplace Museum that is dedicated to this Mexican hero. City aside, Michoacan state is known for being the largest producer of avocados in the world and is home to the annual migration of monarch butterflies from the United States to Mexico in the winter and early spring. 

3. Guanajuato City

A stunning view of Guanajuato. Hansol. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The city of Guanajuato in north-central Mexico is known for its vibrant architecture and art. Guanajuato's narrow alleyways and colorful buildings are best explored on foot. The city is notably home to the annual International Cervantino Festival. The tradition began in the 1950s when students at the University of Guanajuato would perform short plays, or entremeses, by Miguel de Cervantes, best known as the author of “Don Quixote.” Nowadays, the festival is the largest arts festival in Latin America, attracting over 2,400 artists from 30 countries every October. 

4. Bacalar

Bacalar’s stunning lagoon. Bolanos. CC BY 2.0

Located in the state of Quintana Roo and 40 minutes from the state capital of Chetumal, Bacalar is a sought-after destination for travelers interested in wellness and eco-friendliness. The main attraction in Bacalar is the Laguna de Bacalar, which provides numerous opportunities for kayaking, snorkeling and scuba diving. The lagoon is home to seven cenotes, or natural sinkholes, that reflect different shades of blue when illuminated by the sun. Bacalar is home to the impressive San Felipe Fort, which long ago protected Mayans from pirate communities. The Ruta de Los Murales is a charming tour that visits 100 murals in downtown Bacalar. Part of a community project organized by a local nongovernmental organization, the murals help residents appreciate the town's history. Bacalar is one of Mexico's “Pueblos Magicos,” a special status given to towns by the Ministry of Tourism for their historical and cultural significance. 

5. Tlaxcala

Indigenous art in Tlaxcala. Stevens. CC BY-SA 2.0

One of Mexico’s smallest states, Tlaxcala is located due east of Mexico City. Despite its minuscule size, Tlaxcala is home to some of the most impressive natural and archaeological sites in Mexico. The capital city, also called Tlaxcala, has a beautiful historical center with stunning architecture. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is one of the oldest cathedrals in all of Mexico. Archaeological attractions outside of the city include the caves of La Parada and La Gloria and the ruins of Cacaxtla. Furthermore, the small town of Huamantla, also a Pueblo Magico, hosts a monthlong festival paying homage to the Virgin Mary. On every Aug. 14, known as the “night when nobody sleeps”, town residents create a 4-mile-long carpet made of flowers, sawdust and other materials.

6. Merida

One of many pyramids in Mexico. Ari He. CC BY-SA 2.0

Merida is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan in the southeastern part of the country. The city provides an excellent base to explore the region’s numerous archaeological and natural attractions. The Mayan ruins of Uxmal are about an hour and 15 minutes south of Merida and draw fewer crowds than the well-visited ruins of Chichen Itza. Merida is also known for its colonial architecture with pastel-colored buildings and plazas. Notable museums include the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (Mayan World Museum), the Museum of Anthropology and History, and the Popular Art Museum showcasing art from across Mexico. An excellent day trip from Merida is the nearby Pueblo Magico of Izamal. Nicknamed Mexico’s “Yellow City,” Izamal is known for its charming architecture and nearby Mayan ruins. 

Mexico has a fascinating tapestry of cultures, history and natural beauty for visitors. Travel allows for new bridges to be built between the United States and the people and culture of its captivating southern neighbor.

Megan Gürer

Megan is a Turkish-American student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts studying Biological Sciences. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she dreams of exploring the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, and composing music.