This article is adapted from AQ’s special report on the 2024 U.S presidential election and its impact on Latin America industrial waste and gold dust layered in violent strokes and thin lines the Oaxacan artist Dell Alvarado creates a visceral testimony to a territory singled out for development promotion by Mexico’s outgoing president—but riven by the environmental toll of resource extraction Alvarado draws on her own extensive travel through the mountains valleys and mangroves of her native community in Oaxaca for a town of 14,500 in Oaxaca officially known as Unión Hidalgo on the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec the Mexican government has invested in a network of industrial parks railroads and ports meant to propel development in the region Casa Guietiqui in Santo Domingo Tehuantepec Layú biza’bi challenges its audience to engage with a series of labels translations and maps relating to the local impact of resource extraction a desk is set up with research notes highlighting important data like the depth of holes dug to support wind turbines This combination of hard data and raw emotion is meant to spark conversations about taboos within Alvarado’s own community Guidxi Gubiña was founded after the Mexican government burned down binnizá villages and forced inhabitants into one town This violent origin produced fractures that have only deepened with the intensification of resource extraction Searching for an artistic medium beyond the traditional decorative arts often sought after by tourists Alvarado left her hometown to study art in Oaxaca’s capital Now she’s found a way of exploring social change in the isthmus through an investigative art practice Layú biza’bi has offered Alvarado an opportunity to deepen her intimacy with her territory through two years of artistic fieldwork That intimacy bears very tangible fruit in the earth pigments that Alvarado employs in her art—a series of paints that she produced herself from soil she collected Evoking a primordial impulse to reach out and touch the bare earth the pigments showcase the soil’s unique color palette: rusty reds Speaking out in Oaxaca carries heavy risks—dozens of environmental advocates are murdered in the region every year Alvarado chooses to suspend from the ceiling a piece of dirty industrial fabric in the middle of her exhibition Evidence of turbine oil spills on Gubiña land it’s also a testimony to the artist’s resolve to concretely express the traumatic realities afflicting her community Villa Franco is a writer from Bogotá and a research fellow at the Human Rights Foundation Americas Quarterly (AQ) is the premier publication on politics We are an independent publication of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas PUBLISHED BY AMERICAS SOCIETY/ COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS A short film that explores the tradition of wedding night virginity testing in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca will be shown at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival the 15-minute Spanish and Zapotec language film was written and directed by Xóchitl Enríquez Mendoza a 30-year-old Isthmus of Tehuantepec native “submits to the tradition of her people to demonstrate her purity and worth as a woman to her beloved but her body betrays her and she fails to demonstrate her chastity.” In an interview with the newspaper El Universal Enríquez said she was excited and happy that her film was chosen to represent Mexico at the Sundance Film Festival which will take place in Utah next January It will compete in the international short film category was filmed last year in the Isthmus municipalities of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec and El Barrio de La Soledad The filmmaker said that La Baláhna — the film takes its name from the Zapotec term for the virginity ritual — is inspired by an experience a female member of her family had 30 years ago Enríquez’s relative didn’t bleed on her wedding night and was unable to prove her virginity Failing to prove their chastity — even though they were apparently virgins — was a shameful experience for both the film character and the real-life woman the friends of an Isthmus region couple typically wear a red tulip on their clothes the day after the wedding Enríquez said that her aim was not to criticize the virginity ritual which continues to take place in some communities start a discussion and reflect about the effects it can have,” she said “In this short film … [Catalina] didn’t bleed because she has an elastic hymen the character’s love [for her husband] is placed in doubt [Catalina’s husband] Donato stays with her The relationship is destroyed from the wedding night because she didn’t bleed,” Enríquez said The actors and everyone else who worked on the film are locals of the Isthmus region, she said. The film will premiere on January 20 and will be available for streaming on the Sundance Film Festival website until January 31 With reports from El Universal  ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Lidar mapping in a Zapotec sacred mountain: Archaeology of Guiengola This presentation explores the foundational significance of Guiengola one of the first cities built by the Zapotecs in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and its profound connection to their identity constructed during the Zapotec migration in the late Postclassic period (1350 - 1521) represents a key moment in the Zapotecs' expansion outside their traditional homeland in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca It is also recognized as the site where the Zapotecs successfully defended against and defeated the Mexica (Aztec) armies in 1496 solidifying its status as a sacred landscape for the descendants in nearby Santo Domingo Tehuantepec conducted in collaboration with the communal landowners respects and incorporates their knowledge and protocols ensuring that ethical field methods align with community concerns This project underscores the importance of non-extractive scientific practices in enriching archaeological research Utilizing airborne LiDAR scanning and pedestrian surveys I examine the distribution and variability of residential architecture and material assemblages by analyzing the city's urban layout My findings reveal how commoners adapted and transformed their everyday practices within the new environment of the Isthmus offering a deeper understanding of the sociopolitical dynamics that drove Zapotec migration and contributed to the roots of their enduring identity A moderate magnitude 4.3 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean near the coast of  Mexico in the early morning of Sunday 2025 at 4.34 am local time (America/Mexico City GMT -6) The quake had a very shallow depth of 16.1 km (10 mi) and was not felt (or at least not reported so) A strong magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean near the coast of  Mexico in the early morning of Wednesday The quake had a shallow depth of 47 km (29 mi) and was felt by many near the epicenter The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicenter than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would.