Mexico’s president shared what he said was a photo of a mythical woodland elf that he claimed provided evidence of the existence of mischievous Mayan spirits.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador posted a photo to his social media accounts that he claimed showed an “alux” from ancient folklore.
The grainy photo, which appears to have been taken at night, shows an indistinct creature in a tree. With two bright white eyes and long hair or a headdress, it stares down at the camera. The president suggested the creature resembled a sculpture from an archaeological site on the Yucatan peninsula.
Les comparto dos fotos de nuestra supervisión a las obras del Tren Maya: una, tomada por un ingeniero hace tres días, al parecer de un aluxe; otra, de Diego Prieto de una espléndida escultura prehispánica en Ek Balam. Todo es místico. pic.twitter.com/Tr5OP2EqmU
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) February 25, 2023
AMLO said the photo had been taken three days earlier by an engineer on the construction site of a new railway line known as the Tren Maya, which will connect tourist destinations, including ancient Mayan sites.
According to the Mexican press, the photo of the alleged aluxe was taken last week by an engineer at the construction site of a new train railway in the Yucatán Peninsula, according to Obrador. The railway is being constructed to transport tourists to and from popular destinations, including Mayan ruins.
Some people claim that the photo is fake.
An Alux is a type of sprite or spirit in the mythological tradition of certain Maya peoples from the Yucatán Peninsula and Guatemala, also called Chanekeh or Chaneque by the Nahuatl people.
Source: El Financiero