title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Enslaved Africans were brought to Spanish America including Mexico, becoming an integral part of Mexican society. Afro-Mexicans engaged in a variety of economic activities as slaves and as free persons. Mexico never became a society based on slavery, as happened in the Anglo-American southern colonies or Caribbean islands, where plantations utilized large numbers of field slaves. At conquest, central Mexico had a large, hierarchically organized Indian population that provided largely coerced labor. Mexico's economy utilized African slave labor during the colonial period, particularly in Spanish cities as domestic workers, artisans, and laborers in textile workshops ("obrajes"). Although Mexico has celebrated its mixed indigenous and European roots mestizaje, Africans' presence and contributions until recently were not part of the national discourse. Increasingly, the historical record has been revised to take account of Afro-Mexicans' long presence in Mexico.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Although Spanish subjects were not allowed to partake in the Atlantic slave trade, the "asiento de negros" (a monopoly contract issued by the Spanish Crown to other European nations to supply enslaved Africans to Spain's colonies in the Americas) ensured a significant Black presence in Spanish America, including Mexico. The vast majority had their roots in Africa, not all slaves made the trip directly to New Spain, some came from other Spanish territories, particularly the Caribbean. Nueva España or New Spain which is now Mexico, there were slaves who were transported through ships from 1521 to 1810. Those from Africa belonged mainly to groups coming from Western Sudan, Congo and ethnic Bantu.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The origin of the slaves is known through various documents such as transcripts of sales. Originally the slaves came from Cape Verde and Guinea. Later slaves were also taken from Angola.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: To decide the sex of the slaves that would be sent to the New World, calculations that included physical performance and reproduction were performed. At first half of the slaves imported were women and the other half men, but it was later realized that men could work longer without fatigue and that they yielded similar results throughout the month, while women suffered from pains and diseases more easily. Later on, only one third of the total slaves were women.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: From the African continent dark skinned slaves were taken; "the first true blacks were extracted from Arguin." Later in the sixteenth century, black slaves came from Bran, biafadas and Gelofe (in Cape Verde). Black slaves were classified into several types, depending on their ethnic group and origin, but mostly from physical characteristics. There were two main groups. The first, called Retintos, also called swarthy, came from Sudan and the Guinean Coast. The second type were amulatados or amembrillados of lighter skin color, when compared with other blacks and were distinguishable by their yellow skin tones.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The demand for slaves came in the early colonial period, especially between 1580 and 1640, when the indigenous population declined due to new infectious diseases. Carlos V began to issue an increasing number of contracts ("asientos") between the Spanish Crown and private slavers specifically to bring Africans to Spanish colonies. These slavers made deals with the Portuguese, who controlled the African slave market. Mexico had important slave ports in the New World, sometimes holding slaves brought by Spanish before they were sent to other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: According to the genetic testing company 23andMe, the predominant Sub-Saharan ancestry in Mexico is from the Senegambia and Guinea region. This contrasts with the predominant Nigerian ancestry in the United States and parts of the Caribbean.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Africans were brought to Mexico by Spanish conquerors and were auxiliaries in the conquest. One is shown in Codex Azcatitlan as part of the entourage of conqueror Hernán Cortés. In the account of the conquest of the Aztec Empire compiled by Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún, Nahua informants noted the presence of Africans with kinky, curly hair in contrast to the straight "yellow" and black hair of the Spaniards. Mexican anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán counted six blacks who took part in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Notable among them was Juan Garrido, a free black soldier born in Africa, Christianized in Portugal, who participated in the conquest of Tenochtitlan and Western Mexico. The slave of another conquistador, Pánfilo de Narváez, has been blamed for the transmission of smallpox to Nahuas in 1520. Early slaves were likely personal servants or concubines of their Spanish masters, who had been brought to Spain first and came with the conquistadors.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: While a number of indigenous people were enslaved during the conquest period, indigenous slavery as an institution was forbidden by the crown except in the cases of rebellion. Indigenous labor was coerced in the early period, mobilized by the encomienda, private grants to individual Spaniards, was the initial workforce, with black overseers often supervising indigenous laborers. Franciscan Toribio de Benavente Motolinia (1482-1568), who arrived in Mexico in 1524 to evangelize the Nahuas, considered blacks the "Fourth Plague" (in the manner of Biblical plagues) on Mexican Natives. He wrote "In the first years these black overseers were so absolute in their maltreatment of the Indians, over-loading them, sending them far from their land and giving them many other tasks that many Indians died because of them and at their hands, which is the worst feature of the situation." In Yucatán, there were regulations attempting to prevent blacks presence in indigenous communities. In Puebla, 1536 municipal regulations attempted to prevent blacks from going into the open-air market "tianguis" and harming indigenous women there, mandating fines and fifty lashes in the plaza. In Mexico City in 1537, a number of blacks were accused of rebellion. They were executed in the main plaza ("zócalo") by hanging, an event recorded in an indigenous pictorial and alphabetic manuscript.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Once the military phase of conquest was completed in central Mexico, Spanish colonists in Puebla de los Ángeles, which was the second largest Spanish settlement in Mexico, sought enslaved African women for domestic work, such as cooks and laundresses. Ownership of domestic slaves was a status symbol for Spaniards and the dowries of wealthy Spanish women included enslaved Africans.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Blacks classified as part of the "Republic of Spaniards" ("República de Españoles"), that is the Hispanic sector of Europeans, Africans, and mixed-race "castas", while the indigenous were members of the "Republic of Indians" ("República de Indios"), and under the protection of the Spanish crown. Although there was coming to be an association between blackness and enslavement, there were Africans who achieved the formal status of "vecino" (resident, citizen), a designation of great importance in colonial society. In Puebla de los Ángeles, a newly founded settlement for Spaniards, a small number of black men achieved this status. One free black, the town crier Juan de Montalvo, was well established and in Puebla, with connections to the local Spanish elites. Others were known to hold land and engage in the local real estate market.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Free blacks and mulattoes (descendants of Europeans and Africans) were subject to the payment of tribute to the crown, as were Indians, but in contrast to Indians, free blacks and mulattoes were subject to the jurisdiction of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Legal freedom could be achieved by manumission, with liberty purchased by the enslaved person. A 1585 deed of emancipation ("Carta de libertad") in Mexico City shows that the formerly enslaved woman, Juana, (a "negra criolla", i.e., born in Mexico), paid her owner for her freedom with the help of Juana's husband Andrés Moreno. The price of liberty was the large sum of 200 gold pesos. Her former owner, Doña Inéz de León, declared that "it is my will that [Juana] shall be free now and for all time and not subject to servitude. And as such person she may and shall go in whatever parts and places she desires; and may appear in judgment and collect and receive her property and manage and administer her estate; and may make wills and codicils and name heirs and executors; and may act and dispose of her person in whatsoever a free person, born of free parents may and must do."


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Black slave rebellions occurred in Mexico as in other parts of the Americas, with one in Veracruz in 1537 and another in the Spanish capital of Mexico City. Runaway slaves were called "cimarrones," who mostly fled to the highlands between Veracruz and Puebla, with a number making their way to the Costa Chica region in what are now Guerrero and Oaxaca. UNESCO wrote a book which spoke about the history of the slave trade and the ways in which Latin America was involved. In the chapter titled "The slave slave trade in the Caribbean and Latin America" they mention that Spain's biggest goal was to explore “newly discovered tropical territories” in order to help them gain resources and generate wealth and power. In this chapter, they also mention different reasons as to why the slave trade developed along the coasts. Runaways in Veracruz formed settlements called "palenques" which would fight off Spanish authorities. The most famous of these was led by Gaspar Yanga. Gaspar Yanga entered Mexico because he was a slave who was working in the sugar plantains in Orizaba during the year of 1540. Yanga was able to escape this plantation in the year of 1579 and he left to hide in the mountains. There Yanga founded a "palenque". The only way that slaves who were in the zone could survive was by following each other's lead. The more slaves that heard about Yanga and his escape, they would create groups and would plan to escape the plantations their Spanish owners created. Their leader was Yanga. Since Yanga and his followers had created a community in the mountains and they knew that the Spaniards only used certain roads to transport goods, they planned to rob them. Yangas followers would often hide and wait until the Spanish men would be passing by certain spots and rob their goods, eventually, the Spaniards became afraid. The Spanish then declared war with Yanga and his followers and they lost, so freedom was granted to Yanga and his army. With Yanga winning this war, he was able to speak and demand land from Spanish authorities, he wanted his people to have a town of their own which was first known as “San Lorenzo de los Negros” but then became the municipality of Yanga, Veracruz, the first community of free blacks in the Americas.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: By the 17th century, the free Black population already outnumbered the enslaved population, despite slavery being at its greatest extent in the colony during this time. Creoles and mulattos occupied a legible social presence in Mexico by 1600. Most enslaved Africans were reportedly "from the land of Angola," who reconfigured African culture in colonial Mexico while complimenting the existing presence of creoles. Scholar Herman L. Bennet records that 17th-century colonial Mexico was "home to the most diverse Black population in the Americas." Mexico City, built on the ruins of the Mexica capital city of Tenochtitlan became the center for diverse communities, all of which served the wealthy Spaniards as "artisans, domestic servants, day laborers, and slaves." This population included "impoverished Spaniards, conquered but differentiated Indians, enslaved Africans ("ladinos", individuals who were linguistically conversant in Castilian, and "bozales", individuals directly from Guinea, or Africa, who were unable to speak Castilian), and the new hybrid populations ("mestizos", "mulatos", and "zambos", persons with both Indian and African heritage)." Catholic Spaniards instituted ecclesiastical raids beginning in 1569 upon these communities in order to maintain order and ensure the gendered and conjugal norms that they, including persons of African descent, "could assume in the Christian commonwealth."


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Since there were no official census records in the 17th century, the exact size of the free Black population in Mexico remains unknown, although Bennet concludes, based on numerous sources of the period, that there was an "extensive free Black presence early in the 17th century." In the 17th century, because of forced indoctrination instituted by Spanish colonizers, Christian beliefs, rituals, and practices were already becoming normalized by a substantial population of Black creoles in colonial Mexico, similar to the Indigenous and "mestizo" population – "it sought to distance Indians and Africans from their former collectivities, traditions, and pasts that had sanctioned their former selves. Such distancing was both a stated and implicit objective of masters and colonial authorities." In 1640, the regular slave trade to colonial Mexico ended.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The Mexican nationalist movement, which fueled the Mexican War of Independence from 1810 to 1821, was predicated on the ideological notion that Mexico possessed a unique cultural tradition – a notion which was denied by European imperial elites who asserted that Mexico lacked any basis for nationhood – and resulted in the purposeful erasure of a Black presence from Mexico's history. Scholar Herman L. Bennet states that "the demands of a previous political movement should no longer sanction the ideological practices that historically excluded the Black past and presently confines it to the margins of history," likening this erasure to an act of "ethnic cleansing."


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Catholicism shaped life among the vast majority of Africans in colonial society. Enslaved blacks were simultaneously members of the Christian community and chattel, private property of their owners. In general, the church did not take a stance against African slavery as institution, although Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas later in life campaigned against their forced serviture, and the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar argued against it. Montúfar condemned the transatlantic slave trade and sought its cessation and viewed the benefits of incorporating Africans into Christianity as slave not equal to the cost to rending their ties to family in Africa. His pleas and condemnations were ignored.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Church records of baptisms, marriages, burials, and of the Inquisition indicate a high level of the church's formal engagement with Africans. Enslaved and free Africans were full members of the church. As the African population was increased with the importation of unacculturated slaves ("bozales"), white elites became concerned with controlling slaves' behavior and maintaining Christian orthodoxy. With the establishment of the Inquisition in 1571, Africans appeared before the tribunal in disproportionate numbers. Although Frank Tannenbaum posits that the church intervened in master-slave relations for humanitarian reasons, Herman L. Bennett argues that the church was more interested in regulating and controlling Africans in the religious sphere. When the Spanish crown allowed "bozales" to be imported to its overseas territories, it saw Christian marriage as a way to control the enslaved. The church intervened in favor of enslaved individuals over the objections of their masters in marital choice and conjugal rights. Slaves learned how to shape these religious protections to challenge masters' authority through canon law, thereby undermining masters' absolute control over their enslaved property. For the church, the slaves' Christian identity was more important than their status as chattel. Baptismal and marriage records provide information about ties within the Afro-Mexican community between parents, god parents, and witnesses to the sacraments.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Blacks and afromestizos formed and joined religious confraternities, lay brotherhoods under the supervision of the church, which became religious and social spaces to reinforce ties of individuals to larger community. These organized groups of lay men and women, were sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, gave their activities legitimacy in Spanish colonial society. These black confraternities were often funded by Spaniards and by the church hierarchy., were actually largely supported by Spaniards, going so far as to even fund many of them. And although this support of the confraternities on the part of Spaniards and the Church was indeed an attempt to maintain moral control over the African population, the members of the confraternities were able to use these brotherhoods and sisterhoods to maintain and develop their existing identities. A notable example of this is the popularity of choosing African saints, such as St. Efigenia, as the patron of the confraternity, a clear claim of African legitimacy for all Africans.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: African descent people found in these confraternities ways to maintain parts of their African culture alive through the use of what was socially available to them. Particularly in the baroque Christianity popular at the time and the festivals that took place in this spiritual environment, mainly public religious festivals. This fervor culminated in acts of flagellation, especially around the time of holy week, as a sign of great humility and willing suffering, which in turn, brought an individual closer to Jesus. This practice would eventually diminish and face criticism from Bishops due to the fact that often the anonymity and violent nature of this public act of piety could lead, and may have led, to indiscriminate violence. The participation in processions are another quite important and dramatic way that these confraternities expressed their piety. This was a way for the Black community to show off their material wealth that had been acquired through the confraternity, usually in the form of saint statues, candles, carved lambs with silver diadems, and other various valuable religious artifacts.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The use of an African female saint, St Ephigenia, is also a claim to the legitimacy of a distinctly female identity. This is significant because the Afro-Mexican confraternity offered a space where typical Spanish patriarchy could be flipped. The confraternities offered women a place where they could adopt leadership positions and authority through positions of mayordomas and madres in the confraternity, often even holding founder's status. Status as a member of a confraternity also gave black women a sense of respectability in the eyes of Spanish society. Going as far, in some cases, as to grant legal privileges when being examined and tried by the Inquisition. They also took up the responsibility of providing basic medical services as nurses. Women were often in charge of acquiring funding for the confraternity through "limosnas" (alms), a form of charity, because they were, evidently, better at it than the men. That being said, some Spanish heritage women that were wealthy decided to fund some of these confraternities directly. This establishment of wealth also led to a shift in tendencies in female empowerment and involvement in confraternities in the 18th century. This shift was essentially a Hispanicization of the male members of the confraternity which may have involved an adoption of the Spanish system of patriarchy. This pattern, roughly in the 18th century, led to a policing of female members in order to better comply with Spanish gender norms. The Hispanicization of the confraternities gradually led from a transfer in racial title from "de negros", "of Blacks," to "despues españoles", "later Spanish." This is in large part due to the fact that "Socioeconomic factors had become more important than race in determining rank by the end of the eighteenth century".


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Important economic sectors such as sugar production and mining relied heavily on slave labor during that time. After 1640, slave labor became less important but the reasons are not clear. The Spanish Crown cut off contacts with Portuguese slave traders after Portugal gained its independence. Slave labor declined in mining as the high profit margins allowed the recruitment of wage labor. In addition, the indigenous and mestizo population increased, and with them the size of the free labor force. In the later colonial period, most slaves continued to work in sugar production but also in textile mills, which were the two sectors that needed a large, stable workforce. Neither could pay enough to attract free laborers to its arduous work. Slave labor remained important to textile production until the later 18th century when cheaper British textiles were imported.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Although integral to certain sectors of the economy through the mid-18th century, the number of slaves and the prices they fetched fell during the colonial period. Slave prices were highest from 1580 to 1640 at about 400 pesos. It decreased to about 350 pesos around 1650, staying constant until falling to about 175 pesos for an adult male in 1750. In the latter 18th century, mill slaves were phased out and replaced by indigenous, often indebted, labor. Slaves were nearly non-existent in the late colonial census of 1792. While banned shortly after the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, the practice did not definitively end until 1829.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: From early in the colonial period, African and African-descended people had offspring with Europeans or indigenous people. This led to an elaborate set of racial terms for mixtures which appeared during the 18th century. The offspring of mixed-race couples was divided into three general groups: Mestizo for (Spanish) White/indigenous, Mulatto for (Spanish) White/black and Lobo "wolf" or Zambo, sometimes used as a synonym; and "Zambaigo" for black/indigenous. However, there was overlap in these categories which recognized black mestizos. Black mestizos account for less than .5 percent of the Mexican population as of today. In addition, skin tone further divided the mestizo and mulatto categories. This loose hierarchical system of classification is sometimes called the "sistema de castas", although its existence has recently been questioned as a 20th-century ideological construct. Las castas paintings were produced during the 18th centuries, commissioned by the King of Spain to reflect Mexican society at that time. They portray the three races, European, indigenous and African and their complicated mixing. They are based on family groups, with parents and children labeled according to their caste. They have 16 squares in a hierarchy.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The armed insurgency for independence broke out in September 1810 was led by the American Spanish secular priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Hidalgo did not articulate a coherent program for independence, but in an early proclamation condemned slavery and the slave trade, and called for the abolition of tributes, which were paid by Indians, blacks, mulattoes and castas. He mandated in November 1810 that "slave masters must, whether Americans [New World-born] or Europeans, give [their slaves] liberty within ten days, on pain of death that their lack of observance of this article will apply to them." Hidalgo was captured, defrocked, and executed in 1811, but his former seminary student, secular priest José María Morelos continued the insurgency for independence. He did articulate a program for independence in the "Sentimientos de la Nación" at the 1813 Congress of Chilpancingo that also called for the abolition of slavery. Point 15 is "That prohibit slavery forever, as the distinction of caste, being all equal and only vice and virtue distinguish an American from the other." Morelos like Hidalgo was captured and killed, but the struggle for independence continued in the "hot country" of southern Mexico under Vicente Guerrero, who is portrayed as having African roots in modern Mexico. Royalist officer Agustín de Iturbide had fought the insurgents changed his allegiance, but later fought for independence. He gained the trust of Guerrero and the Plan de Iguala, named for the city in the hot country where it was proclaimed, laid out the aims of the insurgency, calling for independence, the primacy of Catholicism, and monarchy, with point 12 mandating "All inhabitants of the Empire, without any distinction other than merit and virtue, are citizens fit for whatever employment they choose." The alliance Guerrero and Iturbide led to the formation of the Army of the Three Guarantees. Spanish imperial rule collapsed, and Mexico gained its independence in September 1821. Despite political independence, abolition of slavery did not come about until Guerrero became President of Mexico in 1829.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Although Mexico did not abolish slavery immediately after independence, the expansion of Anglo-American settlement in Texas with their black slaves became a point of contention between the U.S. and Mexico. The northern territory had been claimed by the Spanish Empire but not settled beyond a few missions. The Mexican government saw a solution to the problem of Indian attacks in the north by inviting immigration by U.S. Americans. Rather than settling in the territory contested by northern Indian groups, the Anglo-Americans and their black slaves established farming in eastern Texas, contiguous to U.S. territory in Louisiana. Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante, concerned that the U.S. would annex Texas, sought to limit Anglo-American immigration in 1830 and mandated no new slaves in the territory. Texas slave-owner and settler Stephen F. Austin viewed slavery as absolutely necessary to the success of the settlement, and managed to get an exemption from the law. Texas rebelled against the central Mexican government of Antonio López de Santa Anna, gaining its de facto independence in 1836. The Texas Revolution meant the continuation of black slavery and when Texas was annexed to the U.S. in 1845, it entered the Union as a slave state. However, Mexico refused to acknowledge the independence of the territory until after the Mexican–American War (1846-1848), and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo drew the border between the two countries. After the ignominious defeat by the U.S., Mexican President José Joaquín de Herrera sent a bill to congress to create the state of Guerrero, named after the mixed-race hero of independence, from parts of Michoacán, Puebla, and Mexico, in the hot country where the insurgent leader held territory. Mexico became a destination for some Black slaves and mixed-race Black Seminoles fleeing enslavement in the U.S. They were free once they crossed into Mexican territory.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: According to the 2015 Encuesta Intercensal, there were 1,381,853 Mexicans that self-identified as Afro-descendants, or 1.2% of the country's population. This is the first time that the government of Mexico has asked citizens whether they identify as Afro-Mexican. Places with large Afro-Mexican communities are: Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica of Oaxaca and Veracruz. While Northern Mexico has some towns with a minority of Mexicans of African descent. Afro-descendants can be found throughout the country, however they are numerically insignificant in some states. There are also recent immigrants of African and Afro-Caribbean origin.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The Costa Chica ("small coast" in Spanish) extends from Acapulco to the town of Puerto Ángel in Oaxaca in Mexico's Pacific coast. The Costa Chica is not well known to travelers, with few attractions, especially where Afro-Mexicans live. Exceptions to this are the beaches of Marquelia and Punta Maldonado in Guerrero and the wildlife reserve in Chacahua, Oaxaca. The area was very isolated from the rest of Mexico, which prompted runaway slaves to find refuge here. However, this has changed to a large extent with the building of Fed 200 which connects the area to Acapulco and other cities on the Pacific coast. African identity and physical features are stronger here than elsewhere in Mexico as the slaves here did not intermarry to the extent that others did. Not only are black skin and African features more prominent, there are strong examples of African-based song, dance and other art forms. Until recently, homes in the area were round mud and thatch huts, the construction of which can be traced back to what are now the Ghana and Ivory Coast. Origin tales often center on slavery. Many relate to a shipwreck (often a slave ship) where the survivors settle here or that they are the descendants of slaves freed for fighting in the Mexican War of Independence. The region has a distinct African-influenced dance called the Danza de los Diablos (Dance of the Devils) which is performed for Day of the Dead. They dance in the streets with wild costumes and masks accompanied by rhythmic music. It is considered to be a syncretism of Mexican Catholic tradition and West African ritual. Traditionally the dance is accompanied by a West African instrument called a bote, but it is dying out as the younger generations have not learned how to play it.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: There are a number of "pueblos negros" or black towns in the region such as Corralero and El Ciruelo in Oaxaca, and the largest being Cuajinicuilapa in Guerrero. The latter is home to a museum called the Museo de las Culturas Afromestizos which documents the history and culture of the region.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The Afro-Mexicans here live among mestizos (Indigenous/white) and various Indigenous groups such as the Amuzgos, Mixtecs, Tlalpanecs and Chatinos . Terms used to denote them vary. White and mestizos in the Costa Chica call them "morenos" (dark-skinned) and the Indigenous call them "negros" (black). A survey done in the region determined that the Afro-Mexicans in this region themselves preferred the term "negro," although some prefer "moreno" and a number still use "mestizo." Relations between Afro-Mexican and Indigenous populations were strained as there was a long history of hostility, and while today there is no open hostility, negative stereotypes abound on both parts.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Like the Costa Chica, the state of Veracruz has a number of pueblos negros, notably the African named towns of Mandinga, Matamba, Mozambique and Mozomboa as well as Chacalapa, Coyolillo, Yanga and Tamiahua. The town of Mandinga, about forty five minutes south of Veracruz city, is particularly known for the restaurants that line its main street. Coyolillo hosts an annual Carnival with Afro-Caribbean dance and other African elements.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: However, tribal and family group were separated and dispersed to a greater extent around the sugar cane growing areas in Veracruz. This had the effect of intermarriage and the loss or absorption of most elements of African culture in a few generations. This intermarriage means that while Veracruz remains "blackest" in Mexico's popular imagination, those with black skin are mistaken for those from the Caribbean and/or not "truly Mexican". The total population of people of African Descent including people with one or more black ancestors is 4 percent, the third highest of any Mexican state.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The phenomena of runaways and slave rebellions began early in Veracruz with many escaping to the mountainous areas in the west of the state, near Orizaba and the Puebla border. Here groups of escaped slaves established defiant communities called "palenques" to resist Spanish authorities. The most important Palenque was established in 1570 by Gaspar Yanga and stood against the Spanish for about forty years until the Spanish were forced to recognize it as a free community in 1609, with the name of San Lorenzo de los Negros. It was renamed Yanga in 1932. Yanga was the first municipality of freed slaves in the Americas. However, the town proper has almost no people of obvious African heritage. Such people live in the smaller, more rural communities.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Because African descendants dispersed widely into the general population, African and Afro-Cuban influence can be seen in Veracruz's music dance, improvised poetry, magical practices and especially food. Veracruz son music, known as son jarocho and best known through the popularity of the hit "La Bamba" shows a mixture of Andalusian, Canary Islander and African influence.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Towns in north Mexico especially in Coahuila and along the country's border with Texas, also have Afro-Mexican populations and presence. Some enslaved and free Black Americans migrated into northern Mexico in the 19th century from the United States. A few of the routes of the Underground Railroad led to Mexico. One particular group was the Mascogos, a branch of Black Seminoles, originally from Florida, who escaped enslavement and free Black Americans intermingled with Seminole natives. Many of them settled in and around the town of El Nacimiento, Coahuila, where their descendants remain.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: A new category was added recently to the Census. An article by Pew Research Center focusing on different areas of Latin America utilized polls and concluded United States Latinos of Caribbean descent are more likely to identify as Afro-Latinos than others who have roots somewhere else. Mexico was going through changes because of its citizens’ demands for a new category to include the Black population of the country. The added category brought attention to the way Mexico has been denying its ties to Africa. An article in "The Guardian" noted that Afro-Mexicans are being ignored by their own government due to their African roots. Latin America has experienced problems with colorism throughout its history into the present day, where darker individuals do not receive the same opportunities as those with lighter complexions. Colorism is deeply rooted in Mexico, as noted in an article titled “We exist. We’re here’: Afro-Mexicans make the census after long struggle for recognition” which says “classic discrimination due to skin colour. [They think] if you’re black, you’re not Mexican” this often leads to a bigger problem. Just because you have a darker complexion you are presented with more economic barriers than someone with a lighter complexion, you will not be able to obtain the same amount of resources because you will be pushed aside by the government.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: In this article, they also mentioned that when Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador went to visit the region of Costa Chica, he complained about the roads and the resources available to people who lived there. Now even though he had complained about this, he did completely nothing to change it. With this article, many are able to see the ways in which political figures notice the lack of economic opportunities in these places and the ways in which they are never changed. This brings attention to the lack of care or importance present in the country and is often reflected in areas where African roots are present.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Both bananas and plantains originate from Eastern Asia, but by the time of European colonization they were readily available on the African continent where they would make their way to the new world. Bananas were reported in Mexico as early as the mid-1500s. The word banana itself derives from the wolof word "banana".


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Although not common, okra is primarily consumed in the northern region of Mexico, where it is called "ocra" and the southern region of Mexico where it is called quimbombó. The word "ocra" and "okra" derive from the Igbo word okuru in reference to the same plant. The word quimbombó derives from the Kimbundu word "Ki-ngombo".


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Cowpeas, the main variety of which being black-eyed peas are another uncommon crop of Mexico but in the state of Guanajuato where they are called "Vericonas". Cowpeas originate and were domesticated in West Africa and made their way to the new world vis the Trans-atlantic slave trade. By the 1500s the state of Guanajuato was noted for its large African population where by 1580 roughly 800 slaves were reported working in a singular mine.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Son Jarocho is a regional folk musical style of Mexican Son from Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. It is the fusion of Spanish and African musical elements, reflecting the population which evolved in the region from Spanish colonial times.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: La Bamba is a classic example of the son jarocho musical style, which originated in the Mexican state of Veracruz and combines Spanish, indigenous, and African musical elements. The song is typically played on one or two arpa jarochas (harps) along with guitar relatives the jarana jarocha and the requinto jarocho. The word "bamba" is derived from Kimbundu "mbamba" meaning "master" as in someone who does something adeptly or skillfully.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: Although its roots are in Colombia, Cumbia is a popular genre of music in Mexico. Cumbia originates as the musical syncretism between instruments and traditions from the Afro-Colombian Palenques, Indigenous Colombian musical traditions as well as European influence.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The majority of Mexico's native Afro-descendants are "Afromestizos", i.e. "mixed-race". Individuals of exclusively black ancestry make up a very low percentage of the total Mexican population, the majority being recent immigrants. The following list is of notable Afro-Mexicans, a noteworthy portion of which are the descendants of recent black immigrants to Mexico from Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas. Mexico employs "jus soli" when granting citizenship, meaning that any individual born on Mexican territory will be granted citizenship regardless of his or her parents' immigration status.


title: Afro-Mexicans

text: The comic character Memín Pinguín, whose magazine has been available in Latin America, the Philippines, and the United States newsstands for more than 60 years, is a Mexican of Afro-Cuban descent. The Mexican government issued a series of five stamps in 2005 honoring the Memín comic-book series. The character has been praised by the Mexican audience, who remember growing up with the magazine, but has also been criticized for employing racial stereotypes.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: Stephan James (born December 16, 1993) is a Canadian actor. After starring in a string of television series as a teenager, he rose to prominence upon winning a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor for his role as track and field sprinter Jesse Owens in the 2016 film "Race."


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: In 2018, he starred in Barry Jenkins' acclaimed drama film "If Beale Street Could Talk", based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name. Also that year, he portrayed Walter Cruz in the Amazon series "Homecoming", for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: James was born in Toronto, Ontario. He graduated from Jarvis Collegiate Institute in 2011. He is the younger brother of actor Shamier Anderson. His family is Jamaican.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: James got his start in television with a recurring role for two seasons on the long-running Canadian teen series "". After leaving "Degrassi", James played various supporting roles on television, including in "How To Be Indie", "Clue", and "My Babysitter's a Vampire" in 2011, and "The Listener" and "The LA Complex" in 2012. Also in 2011, he played a supporting role in the ABC Family made-for-TV movie "12 Dates of Christmas".


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: James landed his first major feature film role playing opposite Tatyana Ali and Fefe Dobson in the Canadian film "Home Again" (2012), in which he played a Jamaican deportee. Although the film received mixed reviews, "The Globe and Mail" gave James' performance a positive review, calling it "heartbreaking." James garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards for his performance, though he ultimately lost to Serge Kanyinda.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: In 2013, James was cast as civil rights activist John Lewis in Ava Duvernay's Martin Luther King Jr. film "Selma" (2014), which went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. When asked about the proposed "snubs" the film received from the Academy, James said: To me, I've always seen this film as a victory really, even before I saw the finished version. No award can amount to the way I feel about what we've done with this film. We've done something so relevant to our youth.In 2015, James guest-starred in the CBC television mini-series "The Book of Negroes," based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Lawrence Hill. At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, James was named one of the industry's foremost "Rising Stars". In celebration of Black History Month, James was named by CBC as one of their '6 Black Canadian Culture-Makers,' citing Oprah Winfrey as one of his biggest influences.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: In 2016, James starred in the lead role of African-American track and field sprinter Jesse Owens in the biopic "Race" (2016) opposite Jason Sudeikis, replacing "" star John Boyega. For his role in "Race", James won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: In 2017, James played DOJ prosecutor Preston Terry in the FOX limited series, "Shots Fired". In 2018, he starred in Barry Jenkins' film adaptation of the James Baldwin novel "If Beale Street Could Talk", which was nominated for several Academy Awards. Also that year, he portrayed Walter Cruz, opposite Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, and Shea Whigham, in the Amazon series "Homecoming". James received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in "Homecoming". More recently, he and Shamier Anderson had signed a deal with Boat Rocker. In February 2022, it was reported that James is attached to star and co-produce a limited series about the life of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.


title: Stephan James (actor)

text: James and his brother, fellow actor Shamier Anderson, founded a non-profit called B.L.A.C.K. Canada (Building a Legacy in Acting, Cinema + Knowledge) in 2016. In December 2020, they announced an extension of the organization called The Black Academy, which showcases Black talent across Canada in the arts, culture, entertainment, and sports. James explained, "We're not short of talent but we are short of opportunities. And so we can only hope that The Black Academy will continue to elevate and inspire the Anglophone and Francophone communities to come together and have one place in which they can build on what they've already started and be celebrated and honored for it, rightfully so." The organization's vision includes building a coalition of supporters who can provide funding, mentorship, programming, and awards to support Black excellence in Canada.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 14 March 1989, University of Texas at Austin student Mark James Kilroy was kidnapped in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico while vacationing during spring break. He was taken by his abductors to a ranch where he was tortured and sodomized for hours before being murdered in a human sacrifice ritual. Kilroy was killed with a machete blow and then had his brain removed and boiled in a pot. His killers then inserted a wire through his spinal column, amputated his legs at the knees, and buried him at the ranch along with 14 other people who had been killed there before him. Adolfo Constanzo, the leader of the cult, told his followers that human sacrifice granted them immunity from law enforcement for their drug smuggling operations. The killing drew worldwide media attention and initiated an international police manhunt because of the unusual circumstances of the crime.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: After the bodies were discovered on 11 April 1989, Constanzo fled to Mexico City but was eventually tracked down. As the police surrounded his apartment complex, Constanzo died after ordering one of the cult members to kill him with a machine gun. Sara Aldrete, another high-ranking member of the cult, was arrested at the scene along with several others. In 1993, the cult members were found guilty of a number of charges, including capital murder and drug trafficking. Several of them, however, claimed they were not guilty of Kilroy's murder and told the press they were tortured to confess. Only two suspects remain at large.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Mark James Kilroy was born on 5 March 1968, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. His parents were James William "Jim" Kilroy, a chemical engineer, and Helen Josephine Kilroy, a volunteer paramedic. They moved to Texas from the Midwest after their son was born. Kilroy grew up in Santa Fe, Texas, a small town outside of Houston, for over 15 years along with his brother Keith Richard Kilroy. He was raised as a Catholic and his parents were frequent attendees at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in the adjacent town of Hitchcock, Texas. Kilroy excelled both in academics and athletics as a teenager, and played baseball, basketball, and golf with his friends at school. He was in the Boy Scouts of America and an honors student at Santa Fe High School, where he was a member of the student council, and was ranked 14th in a class of 210 students. Upon graduation in 1986, he attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, before transferring to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, on a basketball scholarship. At Tarleton he became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He then decided to give up his athletics and transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to become a pre-med student and prepare for his Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Kilroy's murderer, Adolfo Constanzo, was a Cuban American who was born in Miami, Florida in 1962. His father died when he was an infant, so his mother relocated to Puerto Rico with him, where she remarried. They returned to Florida in 1972 and his stepfather died soon afterwards, leaving a large inheritance behind. His mother married again, this time with a man who was involved in drug trafficking and the occult. His stepfather taught him a philosophy that Constanzo carried for the rest of his life: he told him that he should let nonbelievers "kill themselves with drugs" while he could profit from their foolishness. Around the same time, Constanzo's mother believed that her son had psychic abilities. She introduced him to Palo Mayombe, an Afro-Caribbean religion that involves animal sacrifice. He also was introduced to Santería when he was younger. He started as a "palero", someone who practices Palo Mayombe, and eventually reached the status of high-priest, "padrino". In 1984, he moved to Mexico City to start his life as a tarot card reader and eventually developed a cult following. His charisma, physical attractiveness (he previously worked as a male model), and claimed psychic talent granted him the opportunity to mingle with Mexico City's upper class. His reputation for predicting the future and offering ritual cleansing became popular with some drug dealers, musicians, and police officers.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The other cult leader was Sara Aldrete, a Matamoros native and an honors student and cheerleader at Texas Southmost College. She was the girlfriend of Gilberto Sosa, a drug dealer linked to the Hernández clan to which Constanzo wanted an introduction. In 1987, she met Constanzo and eventually became the cult's main recruiter. Investigators believed that Aldrete's physical attractiveness and charm helped her lure men to join the cult or to set them up to be abducted and killed. She recruited people by first showing them the 1987 thriller film "The Believers", which was about a New York City-based cult that practiced human sacrifice for money and influence. Constanzo's members were forced to see the film again and again in order to indoctrinate them to the necessity of human sacrifice. Students and teachers at her college in Brownsville recalled her as a friendly and studious physical education student who showed no signs of abnormal behavior or involvement with a religious cult. Across the border in Matamoros, however, Aldrete was involved in drug smuggling operations and in cult activities. Some of her former classmates found it suspicious that she drove a 1989 vehicle with an embedded telephone, while others recall she preferred to dress in black. Investigators believed that her proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border allowed Aldrete to keep her two lives separate for years. Because of her contradictory lifestyle, law enforcement believed that Aldrete was living a double life and showed signs and symptoms of having a multiple personality disorder.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The ranch where Kilroy was murdered in Matamoros, Santa Elena, was owned by Brigido Hernández. He was not a follower of Constanzo and was not charged with any crimes in the U.S. or Mexico. The sudden death of Saul Hernandez in a shooting prompted his family, including Elio and his brothers Serafín Sr. and Ovidio, to grow closer to rituals and eventually become members of Constanzo's cult. Elio reportedly offered Constanzo half of his family's drug proceeds in exchange for his criminal contacts and supernatural protection for his family.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 10 March 1989, Kilroy's childhood friend Bradley Moore finished exams early at Texas A&M University and headed to Austin to pick him up. Both of them then headed to Santa Fe to pick up two other friends, Bill Huddleston and Brent Martin, before heading to South Padre Island, Texas for spring break. After a foggy, 9-hour drive to South Texas, they arrived at South Padre Island shortly before midnight. They checked in at the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts the next morning before heading to the beach. When they first arrived at South Padre Island, there were few people because it was very early in the five-week spring break season. But thousands of students from the entire U.S. were beginning to arrive as the weekend progressed. Beer sponsors were staging a variety of entertainment events, including free movies, music concerts, calls home, surf-simulator activities, and opportunities to appear on TV commercials. Kilroy and Moore made free phone calls to their parents that day. Later that evening, they met a group of female students from Purdue University and partied until the next morning.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The following morning, Kilroy and his friends had more or less a daily routine in mind. They went to the beach in the morning and suntanned before lunch. After lunch they went to the beach area behind their hotel for the daily Miss Tanline contest. Once the event was over that afternoon, Kilroy headed to the hotel for a quick nap before planning their trip to Mexico. They left South Padre Island that evening and stopped for dinner at a Sonic Drive-In in Port Isabel, Texas, where they met a group of female students from University of Kansas who were planning to party in Mexico as well. The women then followed Moore's car from Port Isabel to Brownsville and parked their cars close to the Gateway International Bridge before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border by foot. Kilroy's friends and the Kansas women spent most of their evening at Sergeant Pepper's night club in Matamoros before the groups went their separate ways. Kilroy and his friends then returned to South Padre Island early the next morning. On 13 March, Kilroy and his friends attended another Miss Tanline contest behind the Sheraton. Early in the evening, Kilroy met with one of his former frat brothers at a condo party. At around 10:30 p.m. CT, Kilroy and his friends headed back to Matamoros. They parked on the border and crossed by foot again.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: That night, Matamoros was flooded with 15,000 spring tourists from the U.S. on the city's main tourist street, Álvaro Obregón. The sidewalks, street, and night clubs were packed with foreign tourists looking to enjoy cheap alcohol and enjoy Mexico's lax drinking laws. When they got to Matamoros, Kilroy and his friends decided to go to the bar with the shortest waiting line. They ended up at Los Sombreros, a bar with rock music and bright neon. After a few drinks, Kilroy and his friends left Los Sombreros and wandered to London Pub, which rebranded itself as Hardrock Café for spring break. This bar was louder and wilder than Los Sombreros, and Kilroy and his friends stood at the bar while other tourists threw beer from the balcony. Kilroy met with a few women at the bar and was not seen by his friends for a while. Around 2:00 a.m. CT, Huddleston suggested the group head back to South Padre Island. As his friends stepped out of London Pub, they saw Kilroy leaning against a car and talking to a woman from Miss Tanline. Across Álvaro Obregón street, thousands of tourists were leaving the bars and heading to Brownsville, but others moved in different directions. The large crowd of people made it difficult for Kilroy and his friends to walk across the border uninterrupted and in a group.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Moore and Martin separated from the group and walked to García's, a popular restaurant-store close to the border. Kilroy stopped at the steps of a house on Álvaro Obregón to say good-bye to the woman from Miss Tanline. He then waited for Huddleston to walk towards him. Huddleston then ran to a nearby alley to urinate while Kilroy waited for him. By the time Huddleston came out and caught up to the other two near García's, Kilroy had vanished. His friends searched for him for hours, even after the establishments had closed and the streets had cleared at around 4:30 a.m. CT. They then crossed the border thinking Kilroy may have crossed to Brownsville and was perhaps waiting near their parked car. His friends did not find him near their car and waited a few minutes in Brownsville before returning to South Padre Island. They thought that Kilroy probably left for the hotel with someone else. They woke up the next day at the hotel and Kilroy's whereabouts were still unknown. His friends then contacted the police to report him missing.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The search for Kilroy initially began as a routine missing persons investigation. Students that were reported missing in Matamoros in the past would often turn up in the following days with a hangover and blurry memory of what had happened to them. Kilroy was one of the 60 people who had disappeared in Matamoros in the first three months of 1989. However, his case drew more attention in the U.S. because his uncle, Ken Kilroy, worked at the United States Customs Service in Los Angeles. When the news reached his uncle, a police task force was created in Brownsville to search for Kilroy. Alarmed with the bad publicity of his disappearance and the potential effects of tourism in Matamoros, local police officers tried to shift the blame and suggested that Kilroy had disappeared in Brownsville. Kilroy's friends denied such claims. The Mexican federal police force vowed to work on the case and help U.S. investigators. One of the commanders assigned Mexican agents to U.S. officials to accompany them in Matamoros. Together they questioned informants, potential witnesses, and worked on tips provided by their sources.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Both Mexican and U.S. authorities suspected that Kilroy's disappearance involved foul play. They speculated that Kilroy could have been a victim of drug-related violence or of robbery-killing, but they were short on leads to make any firm conclusions. When Kilroy's friends reported the disappearance, customs agents went with them to Matamoros to help retrace their steps. Texan officials contacted the U.S. consulate in Matamoros and asked investigators to carry out a search with Kilroy's description in Matamoros jails and hospitals. Investigators then hired a hypnotist to see if he could figure out some additional clues. Under hypnosis, Moore stated that he saw a young Hispanic man wearing a blue plaid shirt and with a visible scar across his face talking to Kilroy before he disappeared. He recalled that the man walked up to Kilroy and told him, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" though Huddleston said he was not sure if Kilroy responded back. However, none of the friends were able to precisely recall the exact moment or place where Kilroy disappeared. Investigators deduced by this story that Kilroy was kidnapped for robbery or ransom. The first option seemed the most likely because his abductors had not called for a payment. They believed that Kilroy's body was probably dumped in a remote location. Helicopters and terrain vehicles of the United States Border Patrol were called to look on the Rio Grande River, but his body was not found.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: During the investigation, Kilroy's parents headed to the Rio Grande Valley and circulated more than 20,000 handouts throughout the region, and offered a $15,000 reward to anyone who could help locate their son. They met with Attorney General Jim Mattox, Texas Governor William Clements, and U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen to assist them on the case. Texan officials told Kilroy's parents that they were planning to talk to Tamaulipas Governor and get people from Matamoros more involved in their son's disappearance. People from Kilroy's hometown travelled to Matamoros and issued fliers offering a reward to anyone who could provide information on his safe return. U.S. authorities had praised the efforts of the Mexican federal police on the case, but they distrusted the state and municipal officials. They suspected that because state and local authorities were acting slowly and not sharing enough information, Kilroy's murderers had insiders within their ranks.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 26 March, the case was highlighted on national television in the crime show "America's Most Wanted". This gave the case nationwide attention and generated several phone calls and letters with people giving clues on Kilroy's whereabouts. However, the police stated that none of the leads generated were solid enough to pursue. A few days later, Kilroy's parents returned to Santa Fe. Santa Fe residents raised money through garage sales and car washes to help Kilroy's family continue their search. In addition, Kilroy's parents went to the University of Texas at Austin to withdraw their son from school.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The key break in the case came on April 1, 1989. Mexican federales manning a drug interdiction checkpoint saw a vehicle run the roadblock without stopping. The vehicle had crossed the international border from Texas and sped through Mexican Federal Highway 2, which connects Matamoros and Reynosa, Tamaulipas.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Instead of turning on their police sirens and stopping the truck, the police decided to follow it using an unmarked vehicle. The checkpoint-runner then traveled out to the Santa Elena ranch outside Matamoros. The police pulled off at a distance to observe. After about 30 minutes, the driver of the truck took off from the ranch and headed back to the city. The officers decided to make their move on the ranch. In a quick search, the police discovered cult paraphernalia and marijuana traces.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Police determined that the driver of the truck was Serafín Hernandez Garcia, the nephew of a local drug lord whose operations were based around the ranch area. But instead of arresting Hernandez Garcia, the police decided to continue gathering more evidence on the suspected criminal activities at the ranch and the organized crime members involved with the Hernández family. They used informants in Matamoros to inquire on "family" activities at Santa Elena, in order to make a series of crucial arrests.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 9 April, they returned with several other policemen and arrested Hernandez Garcia, his uncle Elio Hernandez Rivera, cult members David Serna Valdez and Sergio Martínez Salinas, and Domingo Reyes Bustamante, the ranch's caretaker. While in custody, the detainees were very relaxed. They were sent to jail while the police interrogated another caretaker at the ranch. This person revealed to the police that the ranch had frequent visitors from Serafín's criminal group. The ranch's caretaker identified Kilroy through a photograph and stated that he saw him at the ranch. "Yeah", the caretaker told the police. "I saw him", and then pointed at the shack at the ranch.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: When the police interrogated Hernandez Garcia separately, he confessed that several people, including Kilroy, had been killed over the course of several months at Santa Elena.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Hernandez Garcia said that the slayings had been ordered by Adolfo Constanzo, a cult leader who practiced a ritual form of human sacrifice in the belief that it provided supernatural protection for the drug gang. Constanzo believed that by sacrificing his victims, those doing the sacrifice were ensured strength, abundance, and immunity from law enforcement and injury.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Hernandez Garcia said that Constanzo had ordered his men to find a white, Anglo male (Spanish: gringo) to sacrifice.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: According to Serafín Hernandez Garcia, he and other members of the gang had mingled with the spring-break students in Matamoros on the night of March 14. As Kilroy stood on the street near his friends, one of the men lured him close to a truck. As Kilroy approached the vehicle, Hernández García and another cult member, Malio Fabio Ponce Torres, grabbed Kilroy and wrestled him inside the truck. When one of the gangsters stopped for a few moments to catch his breath two blocks along the road, Kilroy broke loose and ran, but was intercepted by another vehicle driven by the gangsters' allies, who took him prisoner at gunpoint. He was then subdued and handcuffed in the back of the second car.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The gangsters drove Kilroy through the back streets of the city and past an industrial area, passing through the city's outskirts to Santa Elena ranch. The men left Kilroy inside the car overnight; shortly after dawn, the ranch's caretaker went to see Kilroy and fed him bread, eggs, and water. About twelve hours after Kilroy was kidnapped, Constanzo and his men came to see him. They wrapped his face and mouth with duct tape and walked him through a field to a storage cabin with his hands still tied around his back.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Throughout the night of the 15th, Constanza tortured and sodomized Kilroy. He was then led out to the field, where Constanzo killed him by chopping the back of his neck and head with a machete. His brain was then boiled in a nganga, an African metal pot that Constanzo used to stew human and animal remains. Kilroy's legs were chopped off above his knees to facilitate his burial. A wire was inserted in his spinal column so that, once the body had decomposed, the bones could be pulled up from the soil easily. The cult members then dug a hole on the grounds and buried Kilroy's corpse.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Hernandez Garcia agreed to take the police to the spot where Kilroy was buried, which was marked by the ends of the wire coming out of the dirt. Hernandez Garcia explained the function of the wire; once they retrieved the bones, cult members would wear them as necklaces to ward off danger and injury.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 11 April, the police took Hernandez Garcia and the four other suspects to Santa Elena ranch, and forced them at gunpoint to spend several hours digging up the graves. Once Kilroy's corpse had been exhumed, the police observed that his legs were missing; Serafín explained that the amputations were not a procedure of the ritual, but were done to simplify burial.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: When the excavation was concluded, the suspects had unearthed 15 mutilated bodies including Kilroy's, all males who had been killed over a period of nine months. Kilroy's corpse was officially identified after the Brownsville police matched his dental records with the teeth found at the scene. Investigators concluded that most of the victims were rival drug dealers of Constanzo and not random abductees like Kilroy. Three out of the 15 bodies were never identified. At Santa Elena, the Mexican police also seized 110 kg (243 lb) of marijuana, 108 grams of cocaine, 12 firearms including three submachine guns, and 11 vehicles, some equipped with telephones. Inside an iron pot, investigators discovered remains of human brain, a goat's head, chicken feet, a turtle, several herbs, a horseshoe, and coins mixed with animal blood. They found no signs of cannibalism.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 12 April, the detainees were taken to the headquarters of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police in Matamoros for an informal press conference. More than 250 international journalists arrived at the scene to take pictures and ask them questions. The four suspects were paraded from the building's balcony and were allowed to answer questions from reporters. Elio Hernandez Rivera stated that he was an ordained executioner under Constanzo and that Constanzo himself had murdered Kilroy. As the cameras zoomed in on the suspects, Hernandez Rivera showed his membership scars on his shoulders, back, arms, and chest. These were arrow-like cuts made with a hot blade. The marks were given to selected cult members with the authority to perform human sacrifice.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 13 April, a religious ceremony initially intended to revive hope for Kilroy's safe return turned into a memorial service a day after his body was discovered. The service was held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Santa Fe. Many local residents attended the service and about 150 children pinned yellow ribbons outside the church's trees to rally in favor of Kilroy. After the ceremony, Kilroy's friends stated that they wished they had stayed in Texas to party instead of going to Mexico. At St. Luke Catholic Church in Brownsville, over 1,200 people attended a memorial service to support Kilroy's parents. Several of the attendees wore yellow ribbons with "Miss you Mark" written on them, and waited in line after the service was over to express their condolences to Kilroy's parents. The Kilroy family showed deep faith and conviction while speaking to the press. Kilroy's father spoke about the murder and told the press that they were not angry with the killers. He hoped that if and when those responsible for Kilroy's death go to heaven and see their son, they can apologize to him for their wrongdoing. Kilroy's mother told others to pray for the murderers.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 15 April, Kilroy's parents met with U.S. President George H. W. Bush and William Bennett, who headed the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They told the politicians that for every drug consumer, there is a victim who suffers from their addiction. In addition, he stated that drug consumption should be treated with better education, and that the use of drugs, even casually, causes suffering. Bush described the case as "very sensitive", and Bennett stated that Kilroy's murder was mourned nationwide but that the parents were able to turn their suffering to a "very good effort". After the meeting, the parents stated that although Bush and Bennett were not specific on the actions their administration would take to fight drugs and enforce it at a local, state, and federal level, they were satisfied that the government was looking in the "right direction". They praised the efforts of the government in asking citizens what could be done to improve their country. Kilroy's father concluded that change required the government to do its part, but that it also required every citizen of the country to put in their effort to make it happen.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Two weeks after the bodies were exhumed from Santa Elena, the Mexican Federal Police returned to the ranch early in the morning to burn down the shack and lay a wooden cross above the ashes. Reportedly, the police took a curandero (folk-healer) to purify the shack before burning it down. The curandero went inside the house, said a few prayers, sprinkled the floor with salt, and concluded by making the sign of the cross. The policemen then proceeded to spray gasoline around the shack before setting it on fire. The Mexican government offered no official explanation for their actions, but a source close to the investigation stated that the police's motives were supernatural in nature. They said that they knew the shack meant a lot to Constanzo and burning it would make him go insane; "[We] would hit him where it hurts", the police said. The next morning, Constanzo reportedly went into a rage after the arson was shown on national television.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: By murdering Kilroy, Constanzo attracted international attention and forced the Mexican government to focus their efforts on bringing him, and those involved, to justice.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 11 April 1989, the day the bodies were exhumed from Santa Elena, Constanzo fled to a Holiday Inn in Brownsville before flying from McAllen, Texas to Mexico City, where he had an apartment. He escaped with Sara Aldrete, Martín Quintana Rodríguez, Omar Francisco Orea Ochoa, and Álvaro de León Valdés ("El Duby").


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies carried out an international manhunt to locate Constanzo and the rest of his cult members. The police believed that Constanzo had possibly fled to Miami to visit his mother, but Constanzo opted for Mexico City, where he hid with several of his followers for short periods of time. Rumors began to surface that Constanzo was seen in Chicago, Illinois; other rumors suggested that Aldrete was spotted in schools throughout the Rio Grande Valley and that she had vowed to kidnap children for every jailed cult member. A convenience store clerk in Clovis, New Mexico, called the police and told them that he had seen a couple matching the description of Constanzo and Aldrete stopping at his store to purchase something. According to investigators, Constanzo was last seen driving a 1989 Mercedes Benz in Brownsville. In Matamoros, law enforcement raided Aldrete's house, where they discovered an altar and several religious images. They also stated that the house's interior was covered with blood. In the Cameron County sheriff's office, authorities released a wanted poster of Constanzo stating that he was "extremely dangerous", and indicted him and Aldrete for aggravated kidnapping. Both were also indicted by a state jury in McAllen, along with 11 other cult members from Contanzo's organization, for importing marijuana, conspiracy to import marijuana, conspiracy to possess with the intent of distributing, and possession with the intent of distributing. Cameron County officials also issued arrest warrants for the other cult members who were at large. Although none of the leads proved successful, the police encouraged citizens to continue helping them in their search.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 17 April, Serafín Hernández Rivera Sr., a Brownsville native, was arrested in Houston by DEA and Texas Department of Public Safety agents. Federal charges were filed against him for importing marijuana, possession, and conspiracy. Two other men implicated with him were Quintana Rodríguez and Ponce Torres, both Mexican citizens. As the police searched his Houston home, they seized cash and weapons, but found no evidence of any cult paraphernalia or leads pointing to Constanzo. Houston police believed that Constanzo was probably hiding in Houston because he was linked to a $20 million failed cocaine operation that was busted there in June 1988. When the house was raided, investigators found ritualistic candles, an altar, and paperwork with Rivera's name on it. The police believed that Constanzo bought several properties across Houston in the past and were investigating if he had visited any of his alleged hangouts. Serafín Sr. cooperated with U.S. officials and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was released in June 1990 and returned to Brownsville.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 17 April in Mexico City, the police raided one of Constanzo's properties in Atizapán. They discovered piles of homosexual pornography and a hidden ritual chamber with an altar. This prompted the police to question people in Mexico City's homosexual community to see if they had any leads on Constanzo's whereabouts. The Mexican police stated that no evidence was found at the scene to link Constanzo or his men to any murders committed there. They said they saw altars and other ritualistic belongings, but did not find any traces of blood. No men were arrested at the scene, but the police managed to arrest a lady called María Teresa Quintana Rodríguez, sister of one of Constanzo's lovers and henchmen. The police also discovered that Aldrete's purse and other belongings were left behind, which prompted them to conclude that Constanzo probably murdered her because she knew too much about the inner workings of his cult group. The police stated that they did not see Aldrete with the group when they arrived in Mexico City. They thought that Constanzo might have buried her somewhere in the city. U.S. authorities, however, believed that Aldrete purposely left her belongings behind to confuse investigators and make it appear that she was dead. On 24 April, the police arrested Víctor Manuel Antúnez Flores and Salvador Antonio Villaluz, who were hiding in one of Constanzo's properties in the Juárez neighborhood.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: The Mexico City police department noticed that the Matamoros killings were similar to murders carried out in Mexico City between 1987 and 1989. After consulting local witchcraft practitioners and sorcerers, the police heard that Constanzo was probably hiding in Cuauhtémoc, one of the city's boroughs. Another contact told the police that there was an address of interest in the Verónica Anzures neighborhood, next to Cuauhtémoc. The police department sent 16 officers to search the area. At a supermarket, they interrogated a shoemaker who claimed to have seen a woman who matched Aldrete's description. The police then spotted a man at the supermarket who was attempting to buy large amounts of groceries with U.S. dollars. They followed the man and saw that he was living at an apartment on Río Sena. By the end of the week, the police concluded that the man was De León and that he was buying groceries for Constanzo. On 6 May 1989, the police surrounded the building and waited for traffic to subside before raiding the premises. However, a black vehicle pulled up in front of the apartment complex and the police walked over to investigate. Constanzo noticed the police from the window of his apartment and opened fire at the officers who were at ground level. Constanzo threw golden coins and paper money from the window, and burned some of his money on a stove. Constanzo eventually ran out of ammunition and began to lose his patience. After about 45 minutes, and worried of his imminent capture, Constanzo ordered De León to kill him and Quintana Rodríguez.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: De León hesitated at the beginning, but Constanzo hit him in the face and told him that he would suffer in hell if he did not do as he commanded. Constanzo then hugged Quintana Rodríguez, and De León stood in front of them before he opened fire and killed the two with a machine gun inside a closet. When the police climbed up the stairs and made it to Constanzo's smoke-filled apartment, Aldrete ran from the door screaming that Constanzo was dead. De León later confessed that Constanzo had lost his mind and was saying that "everything was lost" and that "no one was going to have [his] money" when the police raid forced him to barricade himself in his apartment. He also stated that he participated in Kilroy's murder and in other killings at Santa Elena, but both agreed that Constanzo did most of the killings himself. Aldrete denied participation in the killings and stated that she was unaware of them until she saw the victims on national television. She said she was sorry to hear about Kilroy's murder. She stated that she was not an official member of the cult and was barely going through the initiation. In addition, she stated she was held prisoner during Constanzo's hiding in Mexico City. When asked if she was in love with Constanzo, she denied it and said that she was only his follower.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: At the scene, the police took Aldrete, De León, Orea Ochoa, Juan Carlos Fragoso, and Jorge Montes into custody. The police also arrested María de Lourdes Güero López and María del Rocío Cuevas Guerra, other cultists under Constanzo, in Mexico City later that day. They were renting one of Constanzo's apartments. The individuals arrested that day were held for homicide, criminal association, wounding an officer, and damage to property. Fearing that Constanzo might have purposely faked his own death, investigators conducted fingerprint analysis. They concluded that the corpse was indeed Constanzo's. Constanzo's 9mm Uzi submachine gun and his supposed suitcase were never formally presented by the police as seized items. On 15 May, a judge refused to set bail for the individuals arrested that day because they were wanted for crimes accumulating over 50 years in prison.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 27 August 1989, Orea Ochoa was admitted to a hospital in after being diagnosed with AIDS. The police said that he and Aldrete were Constanzo's lovers, but that Aldrete showed no signs of the disease in her immune system. He died on 11 February 1990.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 2 June 1989, Salvador Vidal García Alarcón, a police chief of the Federal Judicial Police, was indicted for drug trafficking. He was linked to Constanzo by Aldrete and other cult members who claimed he acted as the group's contact in the police. Aldrete said that Constanzo told her that he had killed two men to favor García Alarcón. The police chief, however, defended his stance and stated that Alarcón's involvement with Constanzo was merely religious; he said that he was possessed with spirits at a young age and sought Constanzo for help. He was not charged with Kilroy's murder or for any other killings conducted by Constanzo's group.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: In August 1990, De León was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing Constanzo and Quintana Rodríguez. Fragosa and Montes were convicted of a separate murder charge and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Reyes Bustamante, the ranch caretaker, was accused in court of cover-up; he was released from prison on 11 December 1990, after paying a bond of US$500.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 10 June 1993, drug trafficking charges against Ovidio and Ponce Torres were dropped in the U.S without a stated reason. On 3 May 1994, Aldrete was sentenced to 62 years in prison. Cult members Elio, Serafín Jr., Martínez Salinas, and Serna Valdez, received 67 years each. In an interview with the press, Kilroy's parents stated that they were relieved to hear that the cultists were sentenced. The charges were multiple homicide (31 years), possession of narcotics (12 years), involvement in organized crime (5 years), police impersonation (2 years), illegal body desecration (2 years), illegal possession of firearms (10 years), and illegal possession of weapons exclusive to the Mexican Armed Forces (5 years). The Mexican federal judge explained that the reason Aldrete received fewer years in prison than the rest was because she was not charged with using weapons that were military-exclusive, which carries a 5-year maximum sentence. He also stated that the maximum conviction a person in Mexico can receive for capital murder is 50 years. Since Mexico's judicial system does not have parole, it allows for prisoners to file motions at an appeal court to reduce their sentences after several years. Whether this condition is denied or granted, inmates can then push for a writ of "amparo".


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On 27 March 1998, a Mexican federal court reduced the sentences of Elio, Serna Valdez, and Martínez Salinas by 17 years, lowering their sentences from 67 total years to 50. Since the death penalty and life sentences are not part of Mexico's judicial system, reductions for charges that are over 50 years are common. In addition, individuals like the cult members, who were charged with murder and other serious crimes that push the total punishment sum above 50 years for capital murder, often have their sentences reduced by an appeal court. If the individuals were first-time offenders, as the cult members were, an appeals court may determine that it is reasonable to reduce their sentences. Elio was sent to a prison in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. The other two were sent to Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 in Almoloya, State of Mexico.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: As of 2009, only two suspects remained at large, Ovidio and Ponce Torres, and were wanted for Kilroy's murder in Mexico.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Aldrete spoke to the press in 2003 and denied her participation in Kilroy's murder and in the cult killings. She stated that it was impossible for investigators to understand what had happened at Santa Elena because the biggest evidence in the case, Constanzo, was dead. Aldrete also stated that the police hid the names of famous people involved with Constanzo for their own convenience. She concluded by stating that she believed in God and was not going to ask society for forgiveness because she was innocent of the crimes. The following year, Aldrete interviewed with the press again and stated that she had been tortured to confess. She said she had been stripped naked, blindfolded, beaten upside down, and then had her toenails yanked. Aldrete claimed she was beaten so severely that doctors told her she would never be able to have children.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: In the early 2000s, she published an autobiography where she detailed how she met Constanzo and the group, her experiences when she was allegedly taken hostage by Constanzo, her mistreatment by authorities, and her versions of the story. Aldrete claimed she visited Constanzo in Mexico City and was then taken hostage after Constanzo decided to not let her go because he believed that she would go to the police and tell them where they were hiding. She claimed that Constanzo and the rest of the group were unaware of the killings that occurred in Matamoros until they found out that the police were looking for them, but went into hiding nonetheless because they feared for their lives. She detailed her alleged mistreatment in jail, and how she underwent beatings, psychological torture, rape, and an unfair trial. Her version of Constanzo's death was different than the official one; she stated that Constanzo was executed by the police when they raided the apartment. She also questioned the police's decision to burn down the shack in Santa Elena, since it was crucial for the investigation and probably contained the fingerprints of the murderers.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: In an interview with the press in 2014, Serafín and Martínez Salinas gave their versions of the story and proclaimed their innocence. Serafín stated that the Federal Judicial Police commander Juan Benítez Ayala found Serafín guilty because he was related to Elio and Ovidio. He said he was not arrested at the ranch, but rather at Elio's in-law's house in Matamoros. He said he grew up in Houston and moved to Brownsville for college, and that he was in Matamoros visiting his family when he was taken by the police. Serafín said he had been tortured by the Mexican and U.S. police in Matamoros to confess his participation in Kilroy's murder and in the killings at Santa Elena. He said he was allegedly beaten and told that he and his family would be killed if he spoke English during his declaration. He said he was a student of Texas Southmost College and knew who Aldrete was, but did not have any connection with her. Serafín also stated that he had never met Constanzo and had no idea his family ranch was a gathering place for his cult. He said that he had never dug up the bodies and had been taken to the ranch after the bodies were already exhumed.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Martínez Salinas, on the other hand, stated that he was forced to confess because he was a neighbor at Santa Elena and driver of the Hernández family. He said he had been beaten and taken to the ranch where he was told to pose with the exhumed bodies. When asked if he had ever met Constanzo, he stated that he had seen him in person at the ranch with the Hernándezes but never talked to him. Martínez Salinas said he was arrested one afternoon at Elio's in-law's house when he was looking for a part for his car. He said he had known Aldrete years before, since he had dated one of her sisters when he was young. He said that he had never heard Aldrete talk about the cult. He said she had talked about her school and marriage. He also said that Elio and Ovidio never invited him to the cult or talked to him about it.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Two months after Kilroy was confirmed dead, his parents founded the Mark Kilroy Foundation which promotes drug awareness, education, and prevention through the "Just Say No" campaign. Since Kilroy's dream was to become a doctor after college, his parents decided to help others and continue his dream through this program. Since 1994, the foundation has sponsored and worked alongside Substance Abuse Free Environment (SAFE), a non-profit community group that promotes awareness for substance abuse and drug prevention. Both of them partner with the Santa Fe local government, its school system, and the ones nearby, and with businesses and private donors, to provide programs for the entire year. The full-time and part-time counselors visit school campuses during the academic year in Santa Fe and Hitchcock to hold programs for approximately 800 students regularly. When students are gone for the summer, the foundation conducts programs in summer camps by partnering with volunteers. They offer free outdoor activities like archery, golf, fishing, tennis, and swimming. An average of 550 youth participate in these programs every summer.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: According to Kilroy's father, the purpose of these summer activities is to keep the youth occupied when they are not in school so they do not get bored and think about consuming drugs. In September 1999, the foundation signed an agreement with the U.S. Federal government to receive ten yearly grants of $100,000. By the tenth year, the government intended to stop the funding and expect the foundation to be self-supporting. However, Kilroy's parents stated that the yearly expenses exceeded $160,000 and that they would need to find new ways to make up the deficit. The Mark Kilroy Foundation was one of the five non-profit organizations in Galveston County that receives proceeds from a bingo place in La Marque, Texas. They also receive proceeds from sales of the book "Sacrifice", written by Kilroy's father and Bob Stewart in 1990.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: Besides counseling children and teenagers with drug advice, Kilroy's parents also advise young people who plan to travel for spring break, suggesting to stay in groups, keep an eye on each other and not wander off on their own. They also suggest tourists be aware of travel warnings and abide by foreign laws and regulations when they travel outside the U.S., though they reiterated that people can get hurt in the U.S. too.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: After Kilroy was confirmed dead, the media framed the drug group and their religious practices as Satanist. For the most part, the U.S. media labeled the group as Satanist and gave little mention to the drug-related violence that was widespread in northern Mexico, thus failing to provide a wider picture of what happened at Matamoros. Reports concluded that because human body parts were found inside a large metal pot, the group practiced cannibalism. Some journalists made the error of attributing cannibalism with the common mistake of satanist groups sacrificing and eating human remains. Other writers, however, stated that Constanzo believed in Kadiempembe, the devil in Palo Mayombe. In addition, some occult writers believed that the nature of Kilroy's murder, which included mutilation and clandestine burial, were part of occult tradition.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: When media coverage and allegations of Constanzo's affinity towards Satanism died down, several Afro-Cuban scholars stated that Constanzo's actions were fueled by his personal conviction and psychopathic involvement with Palo Mayombe. They argued that Constanzo used Palo Mayombe for his own financial, illicit, and psychological needs by convincing his cult members to help further his drug trafficking operations. Through human sacrifice, Constanzo promised his members that they were protected from the law. Other Afro-Cuban scholars, on the other hand, alleged that Constanzo murdered Kilroy because he truly believed it was a requirement in his distorted view of Palo Mayombe. From this point of view, Constanzo's actions and what happened in Matamoros could happen anywhere.


title: Murder of Mark Kilroy

text: On the 20th anniversary of their son's murder, Kilroy's parents visited the Rio Grande Valley and Matamoros to thank the people who had supported them in their search for their son. Kilroy's father stated that people were supportive and called the police whenever they saw something suspicious that they thought was related to their son's disappearance. He said that it was easier to overcome their son's death because of the support they received. Kilroy's mother said she received a cross from a Brownsville woman when she was searching for her son in 1989. "It's a reminder every time that I know that the Lord was involved in everything", she said, while she touched and showed the cross around her neck. Helen Kilroy died in 2014 from ALS, aged 70.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: The Visitors is the eighth studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 30 November 1981.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: With "The Visitors", ABBA took several steps away from the "lighter" pop music they had recorded previously and the album is often regarded as a more complex and mature effort. The opening track, "The Visitors", with its ominous synthesizer sounds and the distinctive lead vocal by Frida, announced a change in musical style. With Benny and Frida going their separate ways, the pain of splitting up was explored yet again in "When All Is Said and Done". The major hit single on the album, "One of Us", also depicted the end of a love story. Elsewhere there were Cold War themes—highly topical at the time—and further songs of isolation and regret.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: "The Visitors" was one of the first records ever to be digitally recorded and mixed, as well as one of the earliest in history to be pressed on the CD format in 1982 (in terms of commercial release dates, it was predated by the Japanese release of Billy Joel's "52nd Street".) "The Visitors" has been reissued in digitally remastered form four times—first in 1997, then in 2001, again in 2005 as part of "The Complete Studio Recordings" box set and most recently in 2012.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: "The Visitors Deluxe Edition" was released on 23 April 2012. As with previous releases in the Deluxe Edition series, this version offered a DVD of archive material along with CD bonus tracks – including the demo medley "From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel", the first previously-unreleased ABBA recordings since 1994.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: For four decades, "The Visitors" stood as ABBA's final studio album, until the release of their 2021 album, "Voyage".


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: Recording began on what was to become ABBA's eighth studio album on 16 March 1981. By this time, tensions in ABBA had heightened. Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog had divorced in July 1980, while the band's other couple, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, announced their divorce in February 1981, adding strain to the musical partnership. Ulvaeus mentioned in retrospect that the sessions were troubled, noting, "It could be frosty sometimes." Lyngstad also commented that they were beginning to tire of working together.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: The members of ABBA and their personnel have memories of the recording sessions for this album being rather difficult. To begin with, their sound engineer Michael Tretow had to become accustomed to using the new 32-track digital recorder that had been purchased for Polar Music Studios. He said, "Digital recording...cut out all the hiss, but it also meant that sounds were sharply cut off below a certain level. The sound simply became too clean, so I had to find ways of compensating for that." The first three tracks for the album had already been recorded using analogue tape and therefore Tretow had to transfer all subsequent tracks from digital to analogue and back again to avoid a difference in quality.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: On its release, "The Visitors" reached the top of the charts in a number of territories but was not as successful as their previous albums.


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: "The Visitors" was released as a Deluxe Edition in April 2012. As with previous releases in the Deluxe Edition series, this version offered a DVD of archive material along with a CD featuring the original album (although a different mix of "Head Over Heels" was used) and bonus tracks; one of the bonus tracks included was the demo medley "From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel", the first previously unreleased ABBA recordings since 1994. "Pitchfork" gave it an 8.6 grade, saying "even as the band's commercial star faded and its professional relationships quietly unravelled, they were perfectionists. ABBA's music on "The Visitors" is more pristine and ambitious than it had ever been, its themes darker, its personal politics more tangled." The Arts Desk: ""The Visitors" is not their best, but it is their most interesting [album], pointing to where Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson would go next."


title: The Visitors (ABBA album)

text: Rune Söderqvist designed the cover and photographed the group in a room containing Julius Kronberg's painting of Eros. The room is the Atelje Studio in Skansen Park, Stockholm. The group are positioned apart and appear to be waiting solemnly in the shadows.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba (; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and communications specialist, currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also concurrently a member of the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: Kuleba is one of the youngest senior-diplomats in Ukraine's history. He previously worked as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration as well as Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe between 2016 and 2019.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: Kuleba was born on April 19, 1981 in Ukraine's eastern city of Sumy, then part of the Soviet Union. In 2003, he graduated with honors with a degree in International Law from the Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Kuleba subsequently obtained a Candidate of Sciences degree (equivalent to PhD) in Law in 2006.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: Kuleba has served in Ukraine's diplomatic service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2003. In 2013, he abandoned public service citing his disagreement with Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych's course and chaired the UART Foundation for Cultural Diplomacy.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: At the height of the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Kuleba decided to return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Ambassador-at-Large to launch strategic communications. He introduced the concepts of digital diplomacy, strategic communications, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy into the Ministry’s work.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: In 2016, Kuleba was appointed Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe. From August 2019 to March 2020, he was Deputy Prime Minister on matters of European relations. He has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 4 March 2020.


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: On 10 May 2022, Kuleba said that "In the first months" of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine "the victory for us looked like withdrawal of Russian forces to the positions they occupied before February 24 and payment for inflicted damage. Now if we are strong enough on the military front and we win the battle for Donbas, which will be crucial for the following dynamics of the war, of course the victory for us in this war will be the liberation of the rest of our territories", including Donbas and Crimea. He called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal".


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: After Putin announced a partial mobilization of Russia's armed forces and referenced a potential use of nuclear weapons, Kuleba said that "Putin has shown utter disrespect to China, India, Mexico, Turkey, other Asian, African, Middle Eastern, Latin American nations which have called for diplomacy and an end to Russia's war on Ukraine."


title: Dmytro Kuleba

text: Dmytro Kuleba is a consistent supporter of Ukraine joining the EU and NATO. He is also in favor of providing Ukraine with an Action Program on NATO membership. In his opinion, Ukraine will join the North Atlantic Alliance earlier than the European Union.