MEXICO'S MAYA TRAIN PROJECT— ON THE RIGHT TRACK OR OFF THE RAILS?

 

Protestors Against Mayan Train in the Yucatán

Tren Maya is an ongoing high-caliber infrastructure project laying 1,525 kilometers of railway tracks set to cross five states in southeastern Mexico, connecting Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo. Depending on who you talk to, it's either "the greatest railway project being built anywhere in the world," (Amlo, Mexico's president) or "an attack on the environment and the Mayan identity," (Pedro Uc, member of the Assembly of Mayan Territory Defenders, Múuch X'iinbal).

At first the cries were but a whimper, with conservationists and the occasional archeologist or Riviera Maya environmentalist sounding alarm. But now, two plus years into its construction and the forest purge, the cries of elimination and contamination can be heard from as far off as The South China Post, Japan Times and New Delhi Times to periodicals and newspapers much closer to home. This 'feat' promised by President Andrés López Obrador (Amlo) has been both lauded and maligned in media coverage everywhere and continues to heat up.

Mexico's President López Obrador has promised the 200 billion peso project (9.8 billion USD) will provide a needed alternative to road and air transport for the "Mayan Riviera" and lift southeastern Mexico's economy which has lagged behind other parts of the country. The president's goal for completion of the train is December 2023, one year before his term ends.

Mayan Train Route

CONCERNS

Environmentalists, archeologists, concerned locals, and even the U.N., have voiced concern that the railway and its hasty construction will critically endanger pristine wilderness and ancient cave and eco-systems beneath the jungle floor. Portions of the train route extend over a fragile system of underground rivers, including the world's longest, that are unique to the Yucatán Peninsula.

The plan for the 910-mile rail is that it will carry both diesel and electric trains through the Yucatán Peninsula connecting Mexico's golden goose, Cancun, to popular tourist destinations like Chichen Itza as well as more remote, off-the-grid sites like Palenque in Chiapas. Twenty one stations with 14 stops comprise its total. 

JOBS AND ECONOMY

FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo), Mexico's tourism arm spearheading the project, predicts the railway will lift more than a million people out of poverty by 2030 in the creation of a whopping 715,000 jobs. 

But with the train already billions over budget and behind schedule, scientists and activists, according to Reuters which has closely monitored and documented the evolution of Amlo's flagship project, says the government cut corners in its environmental risk assessments in a bid to complete it while López Obrador is still in office.

U.N. CLOCKS IN

U.N. experts warned in December the railway's status as a national security project allowed the government to side-step usual environmental safeguards and they called on the Mexican government to protect the environment in line with global standards.

FONATUR however defended the speed with which the studies were produced claiming that, "Years are not required. Expertise, knowledge and integration capacity are required," in response to questions from Reuters. It also declined to comment on the U.N. statement.

CENOTES

The Mayan Train route cuts a swath 14 meters (46 feet) wide through some of the world's most unique ecosystems, bringing civilization closer to vulnerable species such as jaguars and bats. It will pass above a system of thousands of subterranean caves carved by water from the region's soft limestone bedrock over millions of years.

Open Air Cenote (By Journey Wonders)

 

Early on, July 2020, researchers from 65 Mexican and 26 international institutions signed "Observations on the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Mayan Train" claiming it would cause "serious and irreversible harm."

Said one environmentalist, "When you destroy territory, you destroy a way of thinking, a way of seeing, a way of life, a way of explaining the reality that is part of our identity as Mayan peoples."

The ancient Maya's descendants have continued to live on the Peninsula, some still speaking Mayan, wearing traditional clothing, and also conserving traditional foods and recipes, crops, religion, and medicine practices, despite the Spanish conquest between 1527 and 1546.

When interviewed by NBC Latino, Lidia Camel Put, a resident of the area being cleared in Vida y Esperanza (Life and Hope) said, "I think there is nothing Maya about the train. Some people say it will bring great benefits but for us Maya that work the land and live here, we don't see any benefits.

"For us, it will hurt us because they are taking away what we love so much, the land," continued Put.

When marines showed up to start cutting down trees to prepare for the train on the edge of the village, residents who hadn't been paid for their expropriated land stopped them from working.

POLLUTION FACTOR

For residents of Vida y Esperanza, the train will run right by their doors. They fear it will pollute the caves that supply them water, endanger their children, and cut off their access from the outside world. In Vida y Esperanza, the train will run directly through the rutted four-mile dirt road that leads to the nearest paved highway. FONATUR says an overpass will be built for Vida y Esperanza, but such promises have gone unfulfilled in the past.

SAFETY ISSUES

The high-speed train can't have at-grade crossings (where a roadway and rail lines cross at same level), and won't be fenced. One-hundred mile per hour trains will rush past an elementary school, and most students walk to get there. Equally jarring, the train project has actually divided the pueblo Vida y Esperanza in half.

Not far from where acres of trees have been felled to prepare the land for train tracks, an archeologist and cave diver, Octavio Del Rio, pointed to a cave that lay directly beneath the train's path. "The cave's limestone roof is only two or three feet thick in some places," he told NBC. "It would almost certainly collapse under the weight of a speeding train."

Crystalline pools or cenotes punctuate the Yucatán Peninsula where the limestone surface has fallen in to expose groundwater. Along with the world's longest known underground river, this area is the site of discoveries such as ancient human fossils and a Maya canoe estimated to be more than 1,000 years old.

FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM

"If built badly, the railway could risk breaking through the fragile ground, including into yet-to-be discovered caves," said Mexican geochemist Emiliano Monroy-Rios of Northwestern University. He has extensively studied the area's caves and cenotes.

"Diesel," he added, "could also leak into the network of subterranean pools and rivers, a main source of fresh water on the Peninsula." With less than 20 percent of the subterranean system believed to have been mapped, according to several scientists interviewed by Reuters, such damage could limit important geological discoveries. 

In 2022, López Obrador wanted to finish the entire project in 16 months by filling the caves with cement or sinking concrete columns though the caverns to support the weight of the passing trains, as reported by The Chicago Sun-Times. This could block or contaminate the underground water system, the only thing that allowed humans to survive in a land of fickle rain fall. "I rely on water from a cenote to wash dishes and bathe," said Mario Basto, a resident of Vida y Esperanza. 

Uncharted Cave in Yucatán

IMPACT STUDY

The government's environmental impact study for Section 5, a 68-mile and most controversial stretch that runs from Cancun to Tulum, states its environmental impacts are "insignificant" and have been adequately mitigated, Reuters wrote. The study adheres that the risk of collapse was taken into account in the engineering of the tracks and that the area will be observed through a "prevention" program.

However, dozens of scientists disagree, writing in open letters that the assessments are riddled with problems, including outdated data, the omission of recently discovered caves, and a lack of input from local hydrology experts.

"They don't want to recognize the fragility of the land," said Fernanda Lases, a Merida-based scientist with UNAM, calling the problems identified "worrisome." And adding insult to injury, the names of the 70 experts who participated in the government study were redacted from the publication.

Bulldozer Clearing Land in Puerto Morelos (Photo AP)

Monroy-Rios said his research highlights the need for extensive surveillance and monitoring for any infrastructure project in the region, and this has not happened. "I guess their conclusions were pre-formatted," he continued. "They want to do it fast and that's part of the problem. There is no time for proper exploration."

The railway has deeply divided Mexicans and the controversies surrounding the construction exemplify struggles developing countries across the globe face to balance economic progress with environmental responsibility, Reuters wrote.

LOOMING MILITARY

López Obrador has already given the military more tasks than any other recent Mexican president, with armed services personnel doing everything from building airports to transporting medicine to running tree nurseries. The army will operate the train project once it is built, and the proceeds from that will be used to provide pensions for soldiers and sailors. The president said the army is among the most trustworthy and honest institutions in the country.

For more than two years Maya communities have been objecting to the train line, filing court challenges arguing the railway violated their right to a safe, clean environment, and that they be consulted. Back in 2019, the Mexico office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the consultations the government did prepare were flawed.

How will it all play out? As of February 28, the military-controlled Tren Maya S.A. de C.V. announced the passenger and cargo rail route will begin operations on December 1, 2023.

"It will be one of the best rail systems in the world," said Javier May Rodriguez, general director of FONATUR. "Its trips will be safe because it will have state of the art technology." 

December 1 marks the date of the fifth year anniversary of Amlo's presidency. Auspicious timing? Or not. Time will tell. 

Cenote Choo-Ha in Yucatán (Photo Sandra Salvadó)

If you enjoyed this post, check out  Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, on Amazon. My website is www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are also on Amazon. And my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is on Amazon.

GRINGO HUNTERS TRACK AMERICAN FUGITIVES WHO FLED TO MEXICO TO AVOID CAPTURE

The Gringo Hunters (Photo Washington Post)

While living in Mexico, occasionally I heard about various unlawful actions performed by fellow gringos. And having a business, eventually everyone in our small town made it through my door, some with pretty tall tales to tell. I'm sure you've seen movies or read books where the protagonist or anti-hero's future looks so iffy that their only recourse is to run—to Mexico. Even the GPS on OJ's white Bronco was steering him to the Tijuana border until a parade of police cars following him called his bluff. 

The question screams to be answered: What makes Mexico so appealing to the criminal mind? Is it the desire to disappear in a country awash with bountiful beaches, tequila, and fewer identity checks? Or do those who cross the border to escape justice hope the Mexico legal system is less sophisticated than that across the border and they'll be able to simply disappear into the vast and rugged countryside?

Sierra Madre Mountains

AMERICANS MOST WANTED

Living south of the border, it was impossible to not hear about some over-the-top crimes that 'Americans' Most Wanted committed. The overall worst was the guy apprehended in 2002 at a campsite in bohemian Tulum, 60 miles south of Cancun. He'd murdered his wife and three children less than a month earlier in Oregon and his despicable crime had earned him face time on "America's Most Wanted" a mere week before his capture. A Canadian tourist saw the episode and reported him to a crime hotline. Within 48 hours he was arrested on a nearby beach by 20 Mexican law enforcement officers along with several FBI agents from the American Embassy in Mexico City.

INTERPOL AT WORK

Another incident took place in our pastoral pueblo, Puerto Morelos, in 2000 when a youngish computer techie, wanted by Interpol, was apprehended for spearheading a pornography ring using local underage kids. There were plenty of other incidents but these two stand out. The memories of these Interpol arrests came rushing back to me after reading an article in the Washington Post about a police unit in Baja California whose sole job is to apprehend unpunished criminals making their escape across the U.S. southern border. 

In Baja, the unit is made up of state police—ten men and two women—who are assigned to catch them. Their agency's official title is International Liaison Unit, but locally they have a catchier name—the Gringo Hunters.

ESCAPE TO BAJA

Home to "bad hombres?" But they're gringos, not Mexicans. With deserted beaches and sprawling cities that promise anonymity, "Escape to Baja" might sound like a sick idea for a tourist campaign aimed at criminals seeking cover. 

Central Pacific Coast

"Mexico appeals to those running from justice. Oftentimes it's just another guy who thinks he can create a new life in Mexico," says Ivan, a former bodyguard and now a member of the force. 

The unit catches an average of 14 Americans a month. Since it's formation in 2002, more than 1,600 criminals have been apprehended. Many of those suspects were inspired by one of America's oldest cliches: the troubled outlaw striding into Mexico in the hope of disappearing forever, explains Moises, who heads up the elite unit targeting wayward gringos.

BAD GUYS APLENTY

"Regular people don't know how many bad guys are out there," he told reporter Kevin Seiff. "We catch about 140 to 150 a year, and they just keep coming. It's like they all came on the same bus or something.

"You can find them everywhere," Moises continued. "On a beach, at night clubs, in cars with sex workers, in a Carl's Junior parking lot. Some have new identities, some have had plastic surgery, some were found dead. We've found amateur surfers to Playboy models on the run."

BLENDING IN? UNLIKELY

"It's like they think, I can go and hide there and the police will never find me. A lot of them are white guys who think they can blend in, but they can't. The way they dress, talk, express themselves. It's totally different from the locals. They stand out."

One of the two women on the team, Abigail, has her own strategy on outing gringo criminals. She makes numerous profiles on Facebook as a woman looking to hook-up and catfishes them. She says she puts herself out there because the stakes are so high. Gringos who've committed crimes come to Mexico and repeat the same crimes on her side of the border, making it less safe.

She told reporter Seiff about a sex offender who'd fled the U.S. after being charged. He skipped justice system preliminaries, escaped to Mexico, and parked himself in an apartment near an elementary grade school where he could duplicate his previous crimes.

LAYING LOW

The Gringo Hunters always work under cover. While Seiff was interviewing the unit, they were given a tip on the whereabouts of a fugitive murderer—a Mexican American from Fresno who had murdered someone at a traffic accident. They got a tip that he was cutting hair at a local Tijuana barber shop.

Seiff waited with Ivan and Abigail outside the shop, and finally, the man who fit the description walked out. Abigail approached him and Ivan cuffed him. He'd been on the run for two years.

Enroute to the border to hand him back over to U.S. police, Seiff asked Ivan if he could ask the fugitive some questions. Ivan agreed.

"Why didn't you go further into Mexico? Why stay so close to the border?"

"I was tired," the American fugitive told the reporter.

BORDER EXCHANGE

At the border, the Mexican unit walked the man across the border in front of the lines of people waiting to cross over to Mexico. As they approached the American police, they uncuffed the suspect and the Americans placed their handcuffs on the man. The Gringo Hunters had just apprehended an alleged murderer. A gringo back in gringo hands.

US-Mexico Border

Moises told Seiff later that sometimes when he's hanging out with friends who aren't cops, he gets the feeling regular people aren't aware how often they rub shoulders with marginal people. They don't know how scary it is to catch bad guys. But his final words to Seiff were these: "Sometimes when I see U.S. criminals all day, it shapes the way I see the States. We've caught an infinite number of Americans. It never ends.

"Chasing U.S. criminals makes it seem like everyone there is armed. I'm living next to a country where everyone has a gun. Unsafe."

How strange, Seiff thought. It was the same lament he heard so often from Americans, the way they talk about a lawless Mexico.

Imagine Television is developing a thriller drama series for Netflix based on Kevin Sieff's Washington Post story. Stay tuned.

If you enjoyed this post, check out  Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, on Amazon. My website is www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are also on Amazon. And my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is on Amazon.

 

HOW CAN MEXICO ADDRESS ITS STREET DOG PROBLEM?

Smiley, My Favorite Beach Dog

Mexico has many, many street and beach dogs. If you've been to Mexico, you've seen them—animals without a home, often hungry, sometimes unhealthy or hurt, sleeping on dusty pueblo streets. 

Unfortunately, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, Mexico leads the pack in Latin America for the highest number of street dogs. Of roughly 18 million dogs in Mexico, 70 percent live on the street.

HISTORY

Mexico street dogs are scrappy and street-wise, a catch-all breed that most likely descends from stray and feral dog populations that roam the country's streets and beaches. Often these dogs aren't companion animals but forced to become self sufficient scavengers, canines closely related to dogs that roamed thousands of years ago.

PUERTO MORELOS

We were in Puerto Morelos for years and eventually ran into Smiley, one of the town's beach dogs. He started to hang out on our beach, coming for weeks at a time, and going equally as much. Beach dogs develop an attachment to people for a while, then move on. At times he was there every morning and he'd join me on my beach walks. People thought he was my dog. Nope, he's a beach dog I'd say. 

Beach dogs are uncannily smart and always seem to know where their next meal will come from. Before he made his way down to our beach a kilometer from the square, we'd seen him around town, not unlike his mother, Princess Coconut. Coconut was named by the staff at Johnny Cairo's, a local restaurant, where she hung out. She was a permanent fixture at the front entrance, and they gave her a pink rhinestone collar, thus the name. She'd follow young tourist couples who had doggie bags right out the restaurant door. Smiley had learned his tricks from Coconut. They'd follow the couple for a week, then move on. Maybe it was the best of all worlds. They'd have effusive love and food for a short while, but when things got too permanent, time for a change.

For me, I could always tell when it was time for Smiley to leave. He'd join me under the palapa where I'd read daily, lying on the sand next to me. Then one day he'd be a bit farther away, then the next—mid beach—then finally, at the shoreline. He would turn and give one last wag and trot off. A couple weeks later he'd resurface. No chagrin; he needed his space. And we always welcomed him back with open arms. 

We tried to take him to the vet once—but that didn't work out well. Somehow we wrangled a collar around his neck and nudged him into the back seat of the car. That lasted about two seconds. He pulled out of the collar in a move that would have made Houdini proud, jetted out of the car and into the yard. He waited for us at the gate, expectantly and a little nervous. Of course we obliged, opened the gate, and he bolted out into the sascab road. So much for good intentions.

ISSUES

Why does Mexico have a stray dog problem? The street dog issue—in Mexico and elsewhere—is complicated. Sometimes it comes down to pet owners who bit off more than they could chew, but often it comes down to limited access to spay and neuter programs—the keys to solving animal homelessness in the country. Often too in Mexico, dogs are expected to find their own food. It's a horrible sight to see homeless dogs, but even worse when they're starving.

Luckily there are many organizations and pet rescue associations that aim to spay or neuter dogs or find them a new home. Here's a list of pet rescue organizations in the Riviera Maya. If you live in Mexico and want a dog, consider adopting one from an organization such as those listed below. It's also not hard to re-patriate dogs, and organizations like these can set you up with the right forms and information on getting your new pooch from Point A to Point B.

Sparky on Isla Mujeres (photo Lynda L. Lock)

Author Lynda L. Lock, formerly of Isla Mujeres, adopted Sparky, a spunky little Heinz 57, who was so captivating he worked his way into her Isla Mujeres Mystery series, beginning with a cameo in book number one, Treasure Isla. And it didn't stop there! In the photo above, one can easily see he acclimated to his Life of Riley, waiting in his personal golf cart for the caddy to bring his clubs.

Many Mexican dogs find new homes abroad. This list of pet rescue services and organizations from Cancun down to Chetumal, though far from complete, is a start if you're thinking of taking a little bit of Mexico home with you in the form of a furry, four-legged creature. If you're local and need assistance with health issues or neutering, these organizations can assist or point you in the right direction. If you're not from Quintana Roo, locate a "pet rescue" organization in your area through Facebook. Many of the organizations need assistance in the work they do and if you're on an extended vacation and want to show support, get in touch and offer your services. Your love and kindness can create a whole new world for a stray and add an extra spoonful of sugar to your life as well. Viva Mexico! 

CANCUN

Cancun Animal Rescue and Adoption

Contact through Facebook page.

Riviera Rescue AC (Rescue-Foster-Adopt)

Contact Matteo Saucedo through Facebook page.

HOLBOX

Refugio Animal Holbox

Contact through Facebook page.

ISLA MUJERES

Isla Animals, Isla

Contact through Facebook page.

Clinica Veterinaria de Isla Mujeres AC

Contact through Facebook page.

PUERTO MORELOS

Food Bank for Cats and Dogs Puerto Morelos

Contact Claudia Mendiola through Facebook page.

Puerto Morelos Sterilization Project

Contact Betsy Walker through Facebook page.

Puerto Morelos Cause4Paws

Contact Diane Curtis through Facebook page.

Riviera Rescue AC

Contact Matteo Saucedo through Facebook page.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN

The Snoopi Project-Riviera Maya

Contact through Facebook page.

Coco's Animal Welfare, Playa del Carmen

Contact Coco through Facebook page.

SOS El Arca

Contact through Facebook page.

AKUMAL

Street Dog Strides

Contact through Facebook page.

TULUM

Alma Animal Tulum AC

Contact Alma through Facebook page.

Help Tulum Dogs

Contact through Facebook page.

MAHAHUAL

Costa Maya Beach Dog Rescue, Mahahual

Contact Heather through Facebook page.

CHETUMAL

Pancitas Felices, Chetumal

Contact Karla through Facebook page.

If you enjoyed this post, check out my other works, Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya. It's available on Amazon with tales of expat life and living within 100 miles of four major pyramid sites. Also, check out my website at www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are available on Amazon where you can find my overview of the 2012 Maya calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed—Demystifying the Prophecy.

HOW THE CASTE WAR OF YUCATÁN GAINED MOMENTUM FROM A SPEAKING CROSS IN THE JUNGLE

Caste War mural by Marcélo Jiminez

CASTE WAR

PART 2

The Caste War of Yucatán began in 1847 and dragged on for decades. Tired from years of struggle, the Maya regained confidence from an unlikely source: a talking cross found deep in the jungle near a cenote. Revolutionary Jose Maria Barrera, driven from his Yucatán pueblo, led his band of people to an uninhabited forest and to a small cenote called Lom Ha (Cleft Spring). It was there he discovered a cross that was carved into a tree. The cross bore a resemblance to the Maya tree of life, la Ceiba, and a new religion formed around it, the cult of the speaking cross. 

JOSE MARIA BARRERA

Barrera said the cross transmitted a message which was later given as a sermon by Juan de la Cruz (of the Cross), a man trained to lead religious services in absence of a Maya holy man. Barrera also used a ventriloquist, Manuel Nahuat, as the mouthpiece of the cross, and through this directed the Maya in their war effort, urging them to take up arms against the Mexican government, assuring the people of the cross they would attain victory. All withstanding, the talking cross served as a symbol of hope for the Maya.

Painting by Marcélo Jiminez from Caste War Museum

CRUZOB MAYA

From this speaking cross a community evolved—Chan Santa Cruz (Little Holy Cross)—and its inhabitants came to be called Cruzob, or followers of the cross. By chance, the cross bore three elements sacred to the Maya: the Ceiba tree, the cenote, and a cave. The cross was found growing on the roots of a Ceiba tree that sprung from a cave near a cenote. As explained by Nicoletta Maestra, the most sacred tree for ancient Maya is la Ceiba. According to their mythology, it is the symbol of the universe. Its roots are said to reach down into the underworld, the trunk represents the middle world where humans live, and its branches arch into the sky symbolizing the upper world and the thirteen levels of the Maya heavens. The Maya viewed caves as the entrance to the underworld and the domain of the rain gods. 

Reproduction of the World Tree in Madrid Codex, Museo de Madrid (photo Simon Burchell)

TALKING CROSS

It wasn’t a far stretch for the Maya to believe the cross spoke to them. In the ancient Maya text, Chilam Balam, priests were said to have heard voices from the gods. So even this aspect of mysticism fell into acceptable practice for the Maya. To the Chan Santa Cruz, the voice of God came from that cross in that tree. It told the war chiefs that the battle should continue and the people should be patient in their fight.

Chan Santa Cruz rebels (photo Ambergriscaye.com)

To the Cruzob, even though the cross was inspired by a shamanic ventriloquist, the man speaking to them through the cross was God’s chattel, a mouthpiece of the gods. The Cruzobs believed this tree and this cross were connected underground, one hundred kilometers from Lom Ha cenote to Xocen—the center of the world—where the first speaking cross came from. As more and more people heard about the cross, a new religion was born.

Four crosses are said to exist at counter points—tips of the cross—marking the boundaries of the Cruzob Maya. The religion is still practiced and ceremonies performed in these four sacred shrine villages: Tixcacal Guardia, Chancah Veracruz, Chumpon and Tulum, whose geographic positions roughly describe the territory of the Cruzob Maya. In 1935, the Chan Santa Cruz from these last holdout villages signed a treaty of sorts which allowed the rest of Mexico to rule them. The jungle-wise Maya had kept the Mexican government at bay for nearly one hundred years.

COUNTER POINT IN TULUM

I visited the church of the speaking cross in Tulum years ago. Hiding in plain sight and sitting very near el Centro, it was a humble white-washed structure surrounded by trees. A narrow path with overgrown shrubs on either side disguised the entrance that led up to it. Before entering the churchyard, I passed through an enclosed area where a custodial guard sat. He gave a nod and I continued on towards the church. A posted sign instructed that shoes and hats were forbidden, as were photos.

Inside votive candles were lit and the musky scent of copal wafted through the darkened church. The interior was a large open room with seating. Straight ahead, three crosses covered in small white huipil-like veiis sat on an otherwise barren altar. The room held little else except for a Maya woman kneeling on a blanket in a rear corner. Eventually I stepped back outside into blinding Yucatán sunshine. 

Huipil covered crosses (photo by Marina Hayman)

ORIGINAL CROSS

Of the four crosses held at the counter points, one is said to be the original. Tixcacal Guardia village elders fiercely guard what they swear is the original speaking cross and let no outsiders near it. It's kept in a city within a city, much like the Vatican, according to blogger Logan Hawkes, safely hidden away from all save the Cruzob spiritual leaders—a head shaman and a circle of elders. For generations, Maya have flocked to these outposts to worship a wooden cross that became a dynamic part of their history during the Caste War of Yucatán. In Tixcacal Guardia, the church which houses the cross is open to the public on feast days only, but even then it's said the artifact is not on display. It's located on an altar covered with veils in a blocked-off section called La Gloria. No one is allowed to enter the inner sanctum and the cross is guarded day and night by Maya from the region.

Image by Sac-be.com

FELIPE CARRILLO PUERTO

Even though Chan Santa Cruz, the rebels' capital city, now Felipe Carrillo Puerto in southern Quintana Roo, is not one of the counter points of the cross bearers, it was the main stronghold of the Cruzob Maya rebels during the war. To this day a rotating team of followers keep one week vigils at a local chapel where a flower-adorned shrine is set up in honor of the cross. Tihosuco, an hour to the northwest, is home to the Caste War Museum.

Caste War Museum in Tihosuco

With history this unique, it's not hard to realize that the newly founded Riviera Maya is but a shell for a more mysterious land of an ancient, respected people who have had an ongoing conversation with the gods and the universe for more than a millennium.

For more information on the Maya and my writing, check www.jeaninekitchel.com. Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, is available on Amazon as are books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown. For you Mayaphiles, my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is also on Amazon.

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THE WRITER'S ROAD TO TULUM TAKEDOWN

I always knew that Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, would be a trilogy, documenting the life and adventures of Layla Navarro, sitting head of Mexico's most powerful cartel. Truth be told, the writing came fairly easily, and the characters and plot evolved well.

However easy the writing may have been, that was only the beginning of the self-publishing process. The rest can be quite daunting. Though the second time around was a little easier, it was still no cakewalk.

After finishing the manuscript, finding a good editor is key. Luckily, I hit it off with my editor, Jennifer Silva Redmond, from my first novel, and she came through again. Receiving criticism is part of a writer's life, so it's best to develop a thick skin. I gave myself a few days to let her ideas percolate, and then tackled what I could on a daily basis, folding in her changes. Usually, cutting words, sometimes paragraphs, at times entire chapters, is required to make the book a better read.

Did you know that different fiction genres have different suggested word counts? For my genre, thriller, the norm is seventy thousand words. Literary fiction can go quite a bit longer, but with thrillers, it's important to keep the story moving, and shorter tends to make a better read. In my first novel, I clocked in at an unwieldy ninety thousand words! Jennifer asked me to cut twenty thousand. I must admit I cried a little, thinking that one over, but after I slept on her suggestions, I got out my mental scalpel, and went to work.

Jennifer went over my changes a couple times. I sent it off to a proofreader, and then Jennifer had one more look. Next came sending the manuscript to a text formatter and a cover graphics designer. I was lucky to know fine artist Jill Wyatt Logan from Todos Santos, Mexico, and she allowed me (again) to use one of her incredible paintings for the cover. My graphics designer added the title and author name and the back cover blurb design.

From there, it was time to put everything together. And here's my cover reveal of Tulum Takedown. I hope you like it as much as I do. The book will be out the end of March. Please sign up for my newsletter through my website, www.jeaninekitchel.com, to receive info on the publication date. It will be available in e-book on Amazon for $3.99 and paperback $13.95.