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Wicazo Sa Review 18.1 (2003) 176-177



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Democracia Indigena: Municipal Elections in Huehuelta, Puebla, Mexico video by Pacho Lane and Albert Wahrhaftig Ethnoscope Film & Video, 1999

The video opens with people gathered in the town square to hear speeches and music. There is a large banner displayed, encouraging people to vote. The people speak Totonac and Spanish, so the film has English subtitles. Huehuelta is located in the Sierra Norte mountains of south central Mexico and is isolated and poor. The video includes glimpses of this beautiful area while focusing on interviewing people concerning the election and their view of the current municipal government.

In Huehuetla, there are two main political groups. One is controlled by the Totonac Indians (the Independent Totonac Organization, OIT) who have made an alliance with the left-wing party (the Party of the Democratic Revolution, PRD), and the other is supported by the mestizos and the priest (the Party of the Institutional Revolution, PRI, the national ruling party).

The OIT/PRD have been in control of the municipal government for nine years. Through interviews, the differing views on the success or failure of the OIT/PRD are presented. As they talked, I noticed there seemed to be little difference between democratic politics in rural America and rural Mexico. People viewing the same incidents come to different conclusions. There are those who are very attached to one political party and will always vote for whoever is running for that party while others vote based on issues.

A speaker briefly compared the Totonac struggle for control of their own destiny through the political system with that of the Zapatistas of Chiapas who have chosen military actions. The speaker's conclusion was that state and federal governments have blocked the Indians in their efforts for autonomy. One of the community projects shown is providing water to homes.

Election day is recorded. The voter turnout is high; the town square is filled with people waiting for the results. When the PRI candidate wins, there are accusations of vote buying by OIT and PRD supporters. Supporters of the PRI said they had not been paid to vote.

This video is a fascinating glimpse into life in a rural community where two primary ethnic groups are struggling to control their own destiny. The people's desire to participate in the process of change is summed up by the secondary teacher, Griselda Tirado Evangelic: [End Page 176]

I want to comment on the voting. There was a big turnout three years ago, but yesterday was much bigger, I mean, people really wanted to vote, and no matter what, they really voted. A writer once said, "A vote that is bought is still a vote." The most important thing is they voted.


 

Nancy Intermill

Nancy Intermill is a student at Washington State University studying social sciences. She has worked on a university campus for twenty-four years; currently she is employed as administrative assistant for the Program in Statistics at WSU, an academic department affiliated with two colleges. Through the years she has observed how different universities and colleges approach the same goals in different ways.

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