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This picture was taken on November 1st, 1999 during the horse race that celebrates the Patron Saint day in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala. This festivity attracts more than a thousand tourists every year from North America and Western Europe. They come to see the "pristine" Maya as they are represented on postcards, brochures, and all sorts of tourist paraphernalia. The three long&emdash;haired Todos Santos riders that appear in the picture, as well as many others, make this celebration possible. They arrive from the United States where they have been working illegally for years to celebrate this fiesta. The Maya rider on the left proudly ties the American flag around his head with the intention of making visible to the community his economic "success". The expenses for this celebration are unaffordable for most of the local villagers. Thanks to the money that illegal Todos Santos workers in America bring back to the community allows for this tradition to continue. Paradoxically, when Western tourists, in quest of the "exotic Other", come to see the horse race, they are actually witnessing an aspect of what I see as a global system of exploitation. The context of illegal Maya workers supporting their traditions back in their home village while working in America, takes place within a global system of relations, in which traditions are not only sustained with illegal labor; but also, illegal labor makes it possible for Western tourists to be delighted with Maya traditions. |
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