Highly acclaimed in Mexico and Latin American
the Mexican actor Héctor Bonilla died on Friday of kidney cancer at age 83
The Ministry of Culture has recognized him as one of the best actors the country has produced in recent decades
without pain and surrounded by his closest circle,” his youngest son
Born on March 14, 1939, in Tetela de Ocampo, Puebla, Bonilla studied at the National School of Theater of Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL)
His first acting debut was in the movie “Jóvenes y Bellas” (“The Young and Beautiful Ones”)
Several other films and theater productions followed during the 1960s and ‘70s
But it wasn’t until 1989 that he got international recognition with the movie “Rojo Amanecer” (“Red Sunrise”). In the film, he plays the role of a father of two university students who participated in Mexico’s student movement of 1968
Rojo Amanecer, which he also co-produced, was the first film to openly address the student’s massacre at the Tlatelolco Square in Mexico City (the massacre took place just ten days before the Olympics)
he made his directorial debut with the feature film “Mónica y el profesor,” starring his son Sergio Bonilla
“Ámbar” (1994) and “Crónica de un desayuno” (2000)
in 2016 he starred as Don Servando in the popular comedy film “Un padre no tan padre” (“A not-so-great father”) and later reprised his character for the sequel “Una Navidad no tan padre 2″ (“A not-so-great Christmas”)
INBAL recognized him with the Remarkable Trajectories of the Arts in Mexico award for having participated in more than 140 productions over his 50-year career in theater
That same year he also received the Golden Ariel
the highest award given to an individual in the Mexican film industry by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences
In an epitaph Bonilla wrote for himself several years prior to his death
With reports from El País and CNN en Español
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Highly acclaimed Mexican actor Héctor Bonilla died of kidney cancer at the age of 83 on Friday
Mexican Actor Héctor Bonilla, who is recognized by the Ministry of Culture as one of the best actors the country has produced in recent decades, died on Friday, Nov. 25 of kidney cancer at the age of 83, Mexico News Daily reported
without pain and surrounded by his closest circle,” his youngest son
and studied at the National School of Theater of Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL)
He made his acting debut in the movie “Jóvenes y Bellas” (“The Young and Beautiful Ones”) and followed this with several other films and theater productions during the 1960s and ‘70s
it was in 1989 that he got international recognition with the movie “Rojo Amanecer” (“Red Sunrise”)
In “Rojo Amanecer,” which he also co-produced
he played the role of a father of two university students who participated in Mexico’s student movement of 1968
Rojo Amanecer was the first film to openly address the students' massacre at the Tlatelolco Square in Mexico City that took place just ten days before the Olympics
he made his directorial debut with the feature film “Mónica y el profesor,” starring his son Sergio Bonilla
He also acted in several acclaimed and popular films over the years including “Patsy
“La leyenda de la máscara” (1990)
“Serpientes y escaleras” (1992)
“Ámbar” (1994) and “Crónica de un desayuno” (2000)
he starred as Don Servando in the popular comedy film “Un padre no tan padre” (“A not-so-great father”)
He later reprised his character for the sequel “Una Navidad no tan padre 2″ (“A not-so-great Christmas”)
he received the Remarkable Trajectories of the Arts in Mexico award by INBAL for having participated in more than 140 productions over his 50-year career in theater
which is the highest award given to an individual in the Mexican film industry by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences
Bonilla's family shared an epitaph that Bonilla wrote for himself several years prior to his death
No queda nada,” he wrote in the epitaph
Yucatán leaped from two to four “Magical Towns” now that the federal tourism ministry has added the port town of Sisal and the historic convent route village of Maní to its elite list of destinations
The towns join Valladolid and Izamal as destinations in Yucatán that will gain special attention and promotion by the federal government
Yucatan has campaigned for years to add Sisal and Maní to the list
a sort of “hall of fame” for towns that rely on tourism
It also qualifies local governments for federal funds and locals get training in welcoming visitors
Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco said the program seeks to reactivate the domestic tourist economy
the sector with the greatest potential for recovery following the pandemic
The new Magical Towns have an “enormous cultural and natural wealth
crafts and biodiversity,” said Torruco
The new appointments come amid stricter rules to qualify as a Magical Town. Only 16 of 121 municipalities evaluated in 2019 met all the requirements, and some towns struggle to remain on the roster
Yucatán state had only two Magical Towns for years
Izamal was the first to make the list in 2002
and Valladolid was selected 10 years later. That number doubled overnight
Now it is a fishing village of about 2,000 residents
Maní, 90 kilometers south of the capital city and on the way to Uxmal, has a 16th-century church and the convent of San Miguel Arcángel de Maní, where Fray Diego de Landa burned the Maya codices. It is part of a “convent route,” an off-the-beaten-path tour of west-central Yucatan
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The inauguration will take place in the Centro Internacional de Congreso
and exhibitors will be found in the Centro de Convenciones Siglo XXI
The Gran Museo Mundo Maya will be the site for the keynote speeches
Mexico has announced plans to open two new archaeological sites to the public in Quintana Roo
Photos of Quintana Roo’s coastline covered in sargassum for weeks have been circulating heavily over news sites and social media. And scientists now warn that some types of sargassum could be detrimental to human health
“We have detected four species of algae which could potentially be detrimental to human health
A pig farm in the municipality of Homún is being accused of filling in and hiding two cenotes from environmental authorities
UADY has approached the Mérida English Library for help in providing a cultural and language experience for approximately 30 students
the statistic has pretty much held at one traffic death every day and-a-half
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are among 11 new “Magical Towns” announced Tuesday by the federal Tourism Ministry
The other nine new Pueblos Mágicos are Isla Aguada
The 11 destinations join 121 existing Magical Towns that are part of a tourism promotion program that began in 2001 as a way to diversify marketing efforts that had long focused on Mexico’s coastal resort cities
• Located south of Guadalajara on the banks of Lake Chapala
Ajijic has a population of around 10,000 people
a large number of whom are retired expats from the United States and Canada
cobblestone streets and several art galleries among other attractions
• Sisal is located about 70 kilometers northwest of Mérida on the Gulf of Mexico coast
it is now a sleepy beach town with fewer than 2,000 residents
The town’s name comes from the Sisal plant
a species of agave that yields a sturdy fiber that was once shipped abroad from the Yucatán port
pier and an abundance of mangroves that can be visited on a tour with a local guide
• Part of an archipelago of islands in the neighboring state of Campeche
Isla Aguada is located 40 kilometers northeast of Ciudad del Carmen between the Laguna de Términos tidal lagoon and the Gulf of Mexico
Isla Aguada has abundant birdlife and a century-old lighthouse that has been converted into a museum
Maní is a small city about 90 kilometers south of Mérida
Inhabited by the indigenous Mayan people for thousands of years
the newly-minted Pueblo Mágico has a 16th-century church and convent
one of the Yucatán Peninsula’s most impressive archaeological sites
is located less than a hour’s drive to the west
which was named a Pueblo Mágico in the first year of the program but lost the designation in 2009
Located on an oval-shaped manmade island on the Laguna Grande de Mexcaltitán
especially when seen in photographs taken from a bird eye’s view
Richard Zarkin, public relations manager for the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently said of Mexcaltitán: “This beautiful island is known for its charming calmness
its preserved architecture made up of a mosaic of picturesque houses with tile roofs
all of which are a true representation of the cultural wealth in its home state.”
located about 120 kilometers west of Michoacán capital Morelia
is the sixth new town on the Pueblos Mágicos list
Full of shops that sell handmade guitars and other stringed instruments
Paracho’s fame as a hub of talented luthiers was enhanced by the animated Day of the Dead-inspired Disney-Pixar film Coco because an artisan who trained there was responsible for the design of the main characters’s white guitar
• Inland from the Oaxaca resort town of Puerto Escondido is Santa Catarina Juquila
a town of about 6,000 people best known for its church
The Santuario de Nuestra Señora Imaculada de Juquila (Shrine of Our Immaculate Lady of Juquila) houses a small statue of the Juquila virgin
which has been venerated for hundreds of years
the church is a popular destination for Catholic pilgrims
• Situated south of San Luis Potosís city, Santa María del Río is famous for its silk rebozos
scarf-like garments commonly worn by Mexican women on Independence Day
Apart from plenty of places to purchase rebozos
Santa María is popular with visitors for its typical cuisine and pretty historical center
Tonatico and Zempoala are the easiest to get to from Mexico City
The former is about a two-hour drive southwest of the capital while the latter is located about 1 1/2 hours to the northeast
which means “where the sun is born” in Náhuatl
is a small but beautiful colonial city just a few kilometers south of Ixtapan de la Sal
which is famous for its natural hot water springs
Just 10 kilometers south of Tonatico are Las Grutas de la Estrella (the Star Caves)
where visitors can admire the many stalactites and stalagmites including ones that
an eagle and a human hand among other things
• The most famous attraction of Zempoala is the Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2015. There is also a 16th-century convent in the town, which is well known for its haciendas that produced pulque
a viscous mildly alcoholic drink made from the sap of the maguey plant
Plenty of pulque is still on offer in Zempoala today
Announcing the new Magical Towns at a virtual press conference
Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco said that they and the existing ones will become “pillars of the regional and national economy” under the current federal government
He also said that domestic tourism – many of the Pueblos Mágicos rely heavily on local visitors – will be “the driving force” of the tourism recovery amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic