12-Year-Old Mayan ‘Congressman’ Roast of Mexican Politicians to Their Faces Goes Viral Andrea Noel - The Daily Beast
go to original May 8, 2017

“Once, we were the rulers,” he said.

“In the era of the farming masses, we didn’t fight for their bastardly interests. We weren’t guided by vanity and hatred … Now, we’re living through times devoid of civility and patriotism. We need to listen, and open our hearts so that we may live in a country where we can proudly declare ‘I am Mexican!’”

“Congressman” Ángel Jacinto Noh Tun spoke forcefully from his state’s congressional podium last Wednesday, punctuating each carefully enunciated word with his small brown hands.

The 12-year-old Mayan boy was appointed to Quintana Roo state congress for just one day, selected to represent the Mayan people of his region. The state he was born into has, in recent years, been crippled by corruption, and ransacked by corrupt politicians who have participated in the destruction of his homeland, while sitting by idly as cartels operate in the region unimpeded.

Though just one of 26 children chosen to speak in honor of Children’s Day, Jacinto delivered his fiery speech with a sincerity rarely seen from Mexico’s mealy-mouthed career politicians. It was hair-raising and memorable, to say the least.

He took his oath last Wednesday, was sworn in as a pseudo-congressman, and then - with the intonation of a well-practiced and polished politician - delivered the remarkably powerful oration, which has slowly been reverberating across the country.

“We are all astounded by the corruption, the absence of values that gives rise to the wave of violence in our state,” Jacinto said, gesticulating boldly. “How many of those present have screamed ‘Enough murders, kidnappings, violations, and theft?”

Addressing the state congress, and at times pounding his fist against the pulpit, he called Mexico’s crippling corruption “one of the great evils” - the country’s main obstacle preventing progress and growth.

...The video of the speech made the rounds on social media last week, but Jacinto could not have been entirely aware of how sharply his words had resonated in Mexico.



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