Carnaval: Mexico's "celebration of the libido"
Whether it's called Carnival, Carnevale, or in Spanish, Carnaval, the pre-Lenten festivals that erupt throughout the Catholic world leading up to Ash Wednesday (Feb. 25 this year) are pull-out-the-stops explosions of color, dancing and music. If you can't cross half the world for the renowned revelry in Rio or Venice this year, Carnaval with a Latin beat is only one border away.
From its origins in pagan Greek and Roman festivities heralding spring, today's celebration is simply an excuse for unabashed wantonness before enduring the abstention of Lent. Mexico's celebrations, while among the most exuberant in the world, also tend to be particularly family-friendly. They traditionally start with the burning of El Mal Humor (the Ill Humor), typically an effigy of the latest unpopular politician. Following coronation of Carnaval royalty, parades and around-the-clock partying, the prolonged celebration winds up with the burning of Juan Carnaval, an effigy symbolizing the wanton revelry just concluded.
Here are our top Carnaval destinations:
Mazatlán (Feb. 19-24)
The world's third-largest Carnaval (after Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans' Mardi Gras) began more than 100 years ago and now draws more than 400,000 people to its malecón, or seafront promenade. From the coronation of the King of Joy on Feb. 19 to the final parade on Feb. 24, expect roving mariachis, regional Sinaloan and rock bands, open-air culinary festivals starring pescado zarandeado (the regional barbecued fish), art and literature programs, fireworks over the water and amusement park rides.
The big Carnaval procession of fantasy floats and marching bands makes its way down Av. Olas Altas on Feb. 19 (to be repeated in reverse on Feb. 24). Since 1921, Mazatlán has appealed to little ones with the Coronación de Reinas Infantiles, or coronation of the child queens. Held the night before the big parade, it includes a performance by a nationally known singer or group currently in vogue with the youngsters.
Veracruz (Feb. 17-25)
This Gulf of Mexico port city's Carnaval, celebrated since 1866, has a spicy Afro-Caribbean flavor. No less than six parades — typically hosting Draculas, drag queens, women draped in glitter and groups in feathered headdresses, all undulating to Caribbean-Spanish rhythms — fill Miguel Avila Camacho Boulevard. Visitors pack streets and hotels, and even live in their cars to be part of the action.
The zócalo, or main square, is a frenzy of dancing — salsa, cumbia, reggae and marimba, of course, but especially Cuban danzón. Veracruz's festivities include a tugboat parade and tour on the Bay of Veracruz. Past Mal Humor effigies have included Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
Cozumel (Jan. 24-Feb. 11-25)
Better known as one of Mexico's top scuba spots, Cozumel also throws one of the most popular Carnaval celebrations in the Mexican Caribbean. After weeks of pre-Carnaval events, which run long into the night, the competitions and parades begin Feb. 11. Groups of 40 or more dancers gyrate to calypso, reggae, flamenco and pop music along the seafront Av. Raphael Melgar on parade days, which end in street fairs offering traditional foods and concerts.
Children, who play a big role in Cozumel's Carnaval, have their own parades and dance and costume competitions Feb. 19. The four general parades, Feb. 21-24, are populated by costumed harlequins, conquistadores, gypsies, fairies, princesses and bullfighters. Pets get their own procession on Feb. 22.
The best of the rest
Mexico is full of smaller-scale Carnaval celebrations. Most notable among them:
Mérida (Jan. 24-Feb. 25): Yucatán state's graceful capital city welcomes El Jacarandoso, a popular character marching in outlandish costume. Ladies don hand-embroidered frocks and gentlemen guayabera dress shirts for the weeklong party featuring parades, music and dancing, with a rich selection of activities for children. This year's theme is A Movie Carnaval.
Campeche (Feb. 7-24): Mexico's only walled city, once beset by pirates, hosts the country's oldest Carnival celebration. Last year's Mal Humor effigy, which is burned and abandoned in the bay, appropriately, was a pirate.
La Paz (Feb. 19-24): Families traditionally spread picnics on the sidewalks to view the nightly evening parades along the malecón during the capital of Baja California Sur's "celebration of the libido."
Why Mexico is counting on Obama
The following editorial appeared in Sunday's Washington Post:
Barack Obama starts from a very different point on relations with Mexico that George W. Bush did. He has never visited Latin America and spoke little about it during his campaign; his most notable interventions were to criticize standing or pending free-trade agreements with Mexico and Colombia, the two closest U.S. allies in the region.
The paradox here is that Obama, unlike Bush, has an objective and urgent interest in investing some of his diplomatic capital in Latin America — as Calderon pointed out during his visit here. The Mexican leader noted during a stop at The Post that Latin America in 2000 was ruled almost entirely by democracies. Since then, "what I have seen is an increase in anti-American feelings, which is worrisome," Calderon said. "And I have seen some threats to the principles and values we stand for: democracy and human rights, the market economy, property rights and the rule of law."
Some of those threats are well known to Americans, thanks to the grandstanding of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. But others have received surprisingly little attention — like Calderon's own fateful battle against the drug cartels that threaten to destroy Mexico's relatively fragile institutions. By the president's own account, some 6,000 persons were killed in drug-related violence during 2008, a level of bloodshed exceeding that of Iraq. The Bush administration initiated a $1.4 billion aid program to help Mexican security forces, and Congress has appropriated the first $400 million. But little has been done to stop the massive flow of weapons — not just guns but grenade launchers, night vision equipment and high explosives — from the United States to Mexican gangs.
According to Calderon, Obama said that
he would work on the smuggling problem; the two leaders
talked about infrastructure projects on both sides of the
border that could improve security and speed passage. While
he raised labor and environmental issues that are covered by
side accords to the North American Free Trade Agreement,
Obama did not propose reopening the treaty itself, according
to Calderon. That's a step in the right direction — but even
better would be a concerted effort by the new president to
counteract the region's larger drift away from democracy and
free markets. Obama will have an opportunity to launch such
an initiative soon, at the next summit of the Americas in
April. "In this particular moment," Calderon said, Obama
"has the leadership and the credibility to change that
situation quickly and restore the leadership of the United
States — the natural leadership, if I can say that — of the
region." That sounds like an opportunity to be boldly
seized.