Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has got the internet talking after he tweeted a photo of what he claims to be an “aluxe,” — a woodland elf-like spirit in Mayan folklore.
via People:
“I share two photos of our supervision of the Mayan Train works: one, taken by an engineer three days ago, apparently from an aluxe; another, by Diego Prieto of a splendid pre-Hispanic sculpture in Ek Balam,” his translated tweet reads, showing a side-by-side of the alleged elf and a sculpture.
“Everything is mystical,” he added in the translation.
In the blurry image, the creature can be seen sitting in a tree — much like a monkey or a sloth — with its head facing the camera and its eyes shining. There also appears to be something on its head, but it’s unclear exactly what the alleged creature is given the photo’s poor quality.
While Obrador said the photo of the alleged mythical woodland elf was taken three days ago, USA Today reported that the image had been shared online much earlier, specifically in February 2021 when someone tweeted that the figure was seen in Manchester, England. Shortly after, some Mexican media outlets reported that the “witch” was seen in Nuevo León.
The “aluxe” that the Mexican president referred to is a small being known for playing tricks on people, per Mayan beliefs. The mythical mischievous creatures are believed to live in forests and fields, and people often leave out offerings for them.
While some claim the creature in the photo is just a “raccoon with a bag on its head” or some other known animal, Obrador’s tweet has since earned more than 7 million views, so it’s possible someone who spotted it knows the answer.
Obrador has sparked conversation on the social media platform throughout his time as president. In December, he asked Bad Bunny to return to the country after a ticketing snafu left dozens of fans without entry into his show.
More than 1,000 fans were denied entrance into the musician’s concert at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City after being told their tickets were unauthorized despite buying them on Ticketmaster. After the mix-up, Obrador asked the musician to play a show at Mexico City’s Zócalo square — with the government covering some production costs.
“I ask Bad Bunny, I know he is overworked and tired because he works a lot, but I ask him to consider the possibility of coming to Mexico, to the Zócalo,” López Obrador said in a press conference, per The Guardian.
“Hopefully he comes,” he added. “It made us very emotional to see sad young people who couldn’t enter because their tickets were cloned, because they were cheated, some crying. They saved for a long time to be able to buy their tickets.”
In a statement on Twitter, Ticketmaster Mexico shared that more than 4.5 million people registered for just 120,000 tickets at the show. “An unprecedented number of counterfeit tickets, purchased out of our official channels, were presented at the entrances to the venue.”
“This situation, in addition to confusion among the access control staff, caused temporary intermittence in the access control system, which unfortunately impeded the identification of legitimate tickets for some moments,” Ticketmaster Mexico continued.
“It is important to highlight that there was no overcrowding or overselling of tickets,” it added.
Take a look at the photos below.
Les comparto dos fotos de nuestra supervisión a las obras del Tren Maya: una, tomada por un ingeniero hace tres días, al parecer de un aluxe; otra, de Diego Prieto de una espléndida escultura prehispánica en Ek Balam. Todo es místico. pic.twitter.com/Tr5OP2EqmU
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) February 25, 2023
