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Axios Latino is the newsletter that summarizes the key news for Latino communities throughout the hemisphere every Tuesday and Thursday.
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1. The topic to highlight: Ancestral vibes
Ancient Latin American and Caribbean witchcraft practices are booming in the United States as well, as some younger generations of Latinos are reclaiming and reclaiming traditions to connect with their roots, promote self-care, and build community.
General overview:
These American Latinos are resuming ancient practices in a context in which some young people have also always encouraged using accents and eñes in their names, resuming Spanish if they did not learn it before and, in certain cases, worshiping certain popular saints.
Background:
Witchcraft encompasses many types of practices and beliefs, from rituals such as cleansing, to embarking on syncretistic religions such as Santeria.
They are all practices that were developed from indigenous or African elements that incorporated some Catholic traditions.
For many, they are a symbol of resistance, and the practices have remained alive despite the fact that, especially in colonial times, they were demonized and harassed.
In recent years, witchcraft has also gained strength in the United States.
Several large publishing houses have even published several books on the subject, which is also openly promoted on social networks.
In his own words
: Witchcraft "opens many doors to return to our roots and feel more connected to them," says Eric J. Labrado, owner of a witchcraft shop in Austin, Texas.
He is also co-author, with Alexis Arredondo, of the books on Mexican and Mexican-American witchcraft
Magia Magia
and
Blood of BrujerĂa.
"Witchcraft is, in essence, a mechanism of empowerment."
academic lorraine monteagut
"
In my case, that has helped me grow as a person and understand myself better," says Labrado.
One of the reasons why he believes it is attracting more people is precisely that, which is one of several paths towards self-improvement: "It helps to unblock emotions that perhaps we did not know were stuck there like a thorn, to address issues such as grief that perhaps we are even carrying from previous generations, and it allows us to move forward.
It also helps build community by celebrating connections between families, neighbors and more.
"Taking on the role of a witch is a blessing and a gift," says Suhaly Bautista-Carolina, a New York-based herbalist and owner of the Moon Mother Apothecary site.
With the arrival of more practitioners and young people,
it is also being possible to combat the taboos that some still attribute to witchcraft, showing that it can be one of several tools for well-being, according to Lorraine Monteagut, an academic who wrote
Brujas: The Magic. and Power of Witches of Color
and who teaches tarot workshops in Florida.
"Witchcraft is, at its core, an empowerment mechanism," he says.
"There is now more willingness to discover and inquire about the many types of traditions and various practices, and we are connecting to share what used to have to be kept practically secret," she adds.
Lorraine Monteagut, Eric J. Labrado and Suhaly Bautista-Carolina.Courtesy of Monteagut;
courtesy of Labrado;
Tiffany Smith via Suhaly Bautista-Carolina
In that sense, he says that, although the practices are ancestral, today the communion between different varieties is also opening the way to making adjustments that manage to modernize some traditions, so much so that little by little something new would be created.
On popular TikTok, YouTube or Instagram accounts there are open exchanges of botanical rituals and recipes.
Although Labrado emphasizes that it is important to ensure that those who share them are people with the necessary training and who know the history behind the practices, so that they do not distort them.
He suggests that those who want to explore aspects of witchcraft should not hesitate to seek mentorship so that "these traditions continue to be passed down, sometimes modified, but always with caution and reverence."
To keep an eye on:
Monteagut says that witchcraft practices, by evoking so many years of history, can help people feel more rooted and thus even benefit future generations.
"It roots us and so maybe we can teach our descendants to feel a little more secure in their bodies, with a little more belonging than what we feel as immigrants or children of immigrants," he says.
2. Honor Clemente with collectible metal
Baseball legend Roberto Clemente, a Puerto Rican who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates for years, could soon be immortalized on a US coin.
News Boost:
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) recently introduced a legislative proposal to make an official coin whose face is the MLB Hall of Fame player.
The proposal is co-sponsored by Jenniffer González-Colón, representative for Puerto Rico.
Roberto Clemente in 1966.Bettman via Getty Images
Yes, but:
for the legislative proposal to advance to discussion and possible adoption, 290 other congressmen must support it.
Espaillat tells Axios Latino that he is confident that this can be achieved this year.
In his own words: "
I think it is time to commemorate someone who, for me, paved the way for the current Latino legacy in the major leagues. In addition, he was a great humanitarian," says Espaillat.
Context:
Commemorative coins in the United States are legal tender, but only a few are made and they largely become collectors' items.
In recent years there have already been commemorative coins dedicated to the musician Celia Cruz, the Mexican-American journalist Jovita Idar, the abolitionist Harriet Tubman and the dancer MarĂa Tallchief.
Clemente, who played with the Pittsburgh Pirates for most of his career, died in a plane crash in 1972. He was 38 years old.
3. Biden's plan to address student setbacks
During the pandemic, school absenteeism rates accelerated in the United States and basic test scores fell, affecting Latino students and others.
The US Government of Joe Biden wants to reverse it with a new plan announced this Wednesday.
Big picture:
The Education Department's plan calls for state school officials to offer more funding and tutoring services, as well as after-school programs and summer classes.
For its part, the federal government says it will seek to distribute more funds for these programs.
"Let's fight against complacency. We need to put all hands to work," said Miguel Cardona, the Secretary of Education, when presenting the plan.
To wit:
Reading comprehension scores among U.S. elementary students fell to the lowest levels since 1990 during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest national test results.
While scores measuring mathematical knowledge, which had been improving for several decades, fell to levels similar to those in 1970.
The school absenteeism rate reached 31% of students between 2021 and 2022.
4. Layoffs raise concern about the search for missing people in Mexico
Collectives and advocacy groups in Mexico are warning that the Government appears to be hindering the progress made in the search for forcibly disappeared people in the country, by firing experts on the subject and changing its count of who it considers to be a missing person. a stranger.
Why it matters:
More than 110,000 cases of missing persons have been reported in Mexico since the 1960s.
News impulse:
So far this month, several experts from the National Search Commission, the government agency created in 2019 precisely to address the issue of disappearances, have been fired from their positions.
It has not been publicly clarified what caused the layoffs, which the government called a "restructuring."
But (especially in the last year) the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has criticized the commission because he accuses it, without offering evidence, that it has been acting against his government or "inflating" the numbers of missing persons to make him look bad.
Reports of missing people in Mexico during a protest in December 2023.Luis BarrĂłn/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images
In his own words:
"The restructuring truncates one of the most forceful and serious bets that the Mexican State had made until now to locate people [...] it leaves families and groups on a suspended eve of receiving news of the whereabouts of their loved ones," the Mechanism for Truth and Historical Clarification, an advisory committee to the commission, said in a statement Friday.
General overview:
The recent dismissals also occur after LĂłpez Obrador ordered a "census" to review the cases of missing persons, because he was convinced that the numbers were being exaggerated (several experts on the subject have rather warned that the figure of more than 110,000 could even be underestimating the problem).
After that census, whose methodology was criticized as opaque and poorly planned by specialized groups, the Government said at the end of December that the number it considers "real" and "confirmed" of missing people is only 12,377.
It is a decrease of 88% compared to previous estimates and reports that were in the same Government's data.
According to authorities, 16,000 people were found (although many of the relatives have said that there are still no signs of life) and some 50,000 cases should not be considered open or pending files because there is little information to consider them "confirmed disappearances."
Several NGOs then warned that the situation appears to be an attempt to hide the scope of the problem.
Mexico will have presidential elections this June.
The other perspective:
The Interior Ministry, under which the National Search Commission operates, said in a statement Tuesday night that it believes the commission will be "strengthened" by recent changes, without specifying how, and that the search of those still considered missing will continue.
5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean
1.
Alejandro Giammattei
, who until this week was president of Guatemala, was sanctioned this Wednesday by the State Department over accusations that he accepted bribes during his term.
He will now be banned from entering the US.
Giammattei has not responded to the allegations.
Several members of his recently departed government have been sanctioned by the United States in recent days on suspicion of engaging in "acts of significant corruption."
2.
Sixteen more Nicaraguan NGOs
closed their doors this week as a result of President Daniel Ortega's increasing repression against what he considers to be dissent.
More than 3,550 organizations have closed since a 2021 law was adopted that allows auditing of finances and penalizing groups that receive international funding.
Pachanga Thursday
Every Thursday we publish our Pachanga to highlight reader achievements.
If you or someone you know has just celebrated an anniversary, adopted a pet, or had a job success and wants to celebrate, send an email with information and a photo to
axioslatino@axios.com
Greetings to Angela Romero, Democratic state representative in Utah, as she is celebrating being elected president of the National Hispanic Caucus of US State Legislators.
Courtesy of Angela Romero.
Background Illustration: Axios Visuals
Romero, a Tooele native, was first elected to the state Legislature in 2012 to represent Salt Lake City.
"I hope to fulfill my mandate based on collaboration and mutual respect, always putting the needs of our communities at the center," Romero said upon being named caucus chair last month.
Thanks for reading us!
We return on Tuesday.
If you want to share your experiences with us or send us suggestions and comments, send an email to
axioslatino@axios.com
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Do you want to read any of the previous editions?
How the Israel-Hamas war is dividing Latino evangelicals in the US
The power of laughter: Latino comedians in the US make people laugh in Spanish
Behind a mega-investment by the Democratic Party to mobilize the Latino vote