Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday shared an image and claimed it appeared that of a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf. Terming ‘everything as mystical’, he wrote in Spanish, “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. Everything is mystical (sic).”
One of the photographs shared by him showed what appears to be a mystical figure on a tree. However, reports claimed that it could just be a tree branch forming a halo of hair, and what may be stars forming the figure’s eyes.
The president’s post has been viewed over 2.8 million times with over 21.5 thousand ‘likes’. Twitter users were quick to respond to the President’s claims as some of them differed from his claims and posted screenshots of the same image from February 2021.
The Mexican president is known for expressing reverence for indigenous cultures and beliefs. An engineer, who is deployed at constructing a tourist train on the Yucatan peninsula, had clicked the photograph with the apparent mysterious figure, the president claimed.
According to traditional Mayan belief, “Aluxes” are small, mischievous creatures that inhabit forests and fields and are prone to playing tricks on people, like hiding things. Some people leave small offerings to appease them, reported AFP.