Healing Mexico’s ‘Cancers’ with Potions and Politics Agence France-Presse
go to original June 23, 2017

Maria de Jesus Patricio, an indigenous healer from the Nahuatl ethnic group, at her clinic in Tuxpan, Jalisco State (AFP)

Maria de Jesus Patricio has a treatment for pretty much anything that ails you: “toad grass” for cholesterol, “dragon’s blood” for infections, “sacred bark” for constipation or anger.

Now the traditional healer is turning her attention to her biggest patient yet, as the first indigenous woman to run for president of Mexico a country she says is sick with the “cancer” of unfettered capitalism, corruption and drug trafficking.

Patricio’s tiny practice in Tuxpan, a village tucked into the western mountains, seems a million miles away from Mexico City, with its graft-stained politics, back-room deals and failure to curb the violent crime racking the country.

Here, men, women and children come seeking antibiotic pomades, tinctures against indigestion and herbal remedies to ward off evil spirits.

Besides running this tin-roof clinic, Patricio, a member of Mexico’s native Nahuatl people, is also the spokeswoman for the National Indigenous Congress, which represents 43 ethnicities.

Last month the group nominated her to run for president.



Thanks to a new law allowing independent candidates she plans to stand in the country’s 2018 elections.

Her experience as a healer gives her a keen understanding of her nation’s ills, says Patricio, 53, whose supporters affectionately know her as “Marichuy.”

“I’m seeing a lot more cases of stress, of colitis. Before, we didn’t even have these diseases. Now they’re chronic,” she told AFP from behind the counter where she sells her remedies for 10 pesos (50 US cents) each, next to a wooden sign saying “welcome” in Nahuatl.

Those problems are the product of poverty, marginalization and environmental pollution by large corporations, she explained.

“We have to look deeper. What is making people sick? It’s the fact that the economy is out of balance,” she said, her jet-back hair trailing down her back in a long braid.

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