Abstract
This paper examines the phenomenon of the inclusion of elements associated with indigenous religious beliefs and practices in the discourse of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), President of Mexico in 2018-2024. The ceremony of handing over the insignia of power to AMLO by representatives of indigenous peoples on the day of his inauguration; the altars to the dead of indigenous peoples installed at the National Palace during the 2020 pandemic in 2020; the ceremony for Mother Earth to approve the Mayan Train – these are unusual events in the history of independent Mexico, in which the political governments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries curtailed the power of the hegemonic Catholic Church and fought the politicized clergy, leading to the establishment of a secular state with legal barriers against religious interference in politics. The paper analyzes selected elements of AMLO’s political discourse and their context in order to clarify the main issues involved in the phenomenon of incorporating elements related to indigenous religious beliefs and practices into Mexican politics: usurpation of indigenous identity and legitimacy, invention of tradition, use of religion for political purposes.
Presenters
Marta Wójtowicz WcisłoAssistant Professor, Institute of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies, Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Religion and Politics, Neo-Indians, New Spiritualities, Political Discourse, Mexico
