Saturday of last week, after our great dinner at "Testal", we walked to the main plaza, the Zócalo, where there was going to be a light and sound show. A replica of the pyramid of the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá had been erected for the show.
We arrived around 7 P.M. The show was to begin at eight, and there was already a crowd gathered. We waited patiently until dusk when they began testing the lights for the program.
The show dealt with the Mayan civilization, and Felipe Puerto Carrillo, the socialist governor of the state of Yucatán from 1922 until his death in a coup d'état in 1924.
Puerto Carrillo confiscated land from the large haciendas and distributed it to Mayan peasants. He built public schools, granted women political rights, published all laws in the Mayan language as well as in Spanish, and began the conservation and restoration of archaeological sites such as Chichén Itzá. When he supported a rebellion against President Alvaro Obregón, he was captured, tried and executed by a group of army officers. This is the centennial of his death, and the President has declared 2024"The Year of Felipe Puerto Carrillo".
Alejandro said that there were a number of historical errors in the narration of the program. I objected to the speeches given by politicians prior to the show. They were largely propaganda extolling the ruling party. I almost felt as if I were in Cuba.
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