A strange and bloody sacrifice of a rooster in the Mexican Senate is perhaps an excellent way to transport the world back 600 years to a time when the best response to El Niño and La Niña phenomena was a sacrifice. Although of course the Mayans and Aztecs were fully aware of the phenomena of drought and flood. Phenomena that could last up to 10 years and destroyed empires.
Adolfo Gómez Hernández, a lawmaker from the Morena parliamentary group in Mexico where human sacrifice now has another face, invited people with incense burners and two others who sacrificed the animal to the government building on Wednesday (April 24th). The first person held the bird while a woman cut its throat with a knife, filling a container with its blood.
Fellow lawmakers said they tried to block the animals from entering the Senate. However, the determined Hernández saw to it that the unusual ritual took place inside the building. A statement from the Senate said that “it does not approve in any way of the reported events and will take the appropriate disciplinary measures against the responsible senator”. Fortunately it was anecdotal to say the least, as the Aztecs originally sacrificed children of aristocratic descent in times of drought, not roosters.
I exercised my constitutionally protected right, says Senator Hernández
Ana Lilia Rivera Rivera, president of the Senate Board of Directors, said in a statement: “These events took place under the strict individual responsibility of Senator Adolfo Gómez Hernández, who justified the action under the protection of the uses and customs of an indigenous group or community in which he expressed his self-identification”.
“The Presidency of the Board of Directors had previously communicated to the aforementioned senator the express refusal to allow any kind of animal to enter the building, in accordance with the applicable security and civil protection protocols.” He also said that “appropriate disciplinary action will be taken with the responsible senator.”
Hernández, from Oaxaca, justified his decision to sacrifice the bird by arguing that the country’s constitution indicates that the practices of indigenous peoples must be respected. However, some people on social media blasted the politician and deemed the move a stunt.
