The Jaguar's Children

The Jaguar's Children

by John Vaillant

"When those Greeks were hiding in that horse they wanted to attack the city, and when the terrorists were hiding in those planes they wanted to attack the country, but when Mexicanos hide in a truck, what do they want to do? They want to pick the lettuce. And cut your grass."

“Always the padre told us that the wine is the blood of Christ and it's Him you are drinking from the cup, His life on your lips. But the padre was wrong - blood is not life, water is” 

“This is the magical realism of NAFTA - Mexico, the birthplace of corn, is now importing surplus corn from el Norte - millions of tons driving the price down so campesinos can't afford to grow it. Exporting people and importing corn. It is backwards, no?” 

"Oxaca..a city of walls. Getting inside can take a lifetime or a ladder. Getting out takes a coyote or a miracle"

"Even if there's no phone in the pueblo, even if there's no priest and no road, there's a basketball court, but the one in Guelatao is the first I saw with a roof on it. we have gods for corn and rain and clouds and lightning, and we have Jesus and Mary in all her manifestations, but Michael Jordan is our patron saint of basketballs."

"— the money, the clothes, the talking, the gods. It is all just a thin layer of paint— gone in a few hours. It is the same that makes a truck red or blue or brown, but underneath is only metal coming from the mountain. In the end, this truck is just a rock driving around pretending for a little while to be a truck. And here we are in the desert, breaking down."