adminMexico City — An effigy of US presidential contender Donald Trump — a hated figure for many in Mexico — was set ablaze on Saturday in a contemporary twist on a Holy Week ritual.
A smiling figure of the billionaire American businessman went up in flames during the Easter eve “Burning of Judas,” a tradition in which Mexicans torch effigies of the devil — and of public figures they dislike.
In a neighbourhood of the Mexican capital city, this year the devil took the form of Trump, who is notorious here for comments made during his presidential campaign accusing Mexican immigrants in the United States of being criminals and rapists.
About 200 people attended the event late on Saturday, in which a 2 metre papier-mache likeness of Trump wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie was torched. The figure was created by Felipe Linares, who has been making effigies for more than 50 years at a workshop founded by his father in the early 20th century.
This year he made likenesses of the devil, President Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and Trump — all of which went up in flames.
Linares said the likeness of Trump was chosen “because we don’t like him. He speaks ill of Mexicans.”
He was referring to the real estate tycoon’s remarks on the campaign trail describing Mexican migrants as criminals and rapists.
The Holy Week tradition of burning effigies is believed to symbolically dispel evil, while torching the Judas figure exacts revenge for the death of Jesus.
Since making his remarks, Trump has become a figure of scorn in Mexico. Some have made pinatas resembling the Republican frontrunner, while one artist produced shirts decorated with his image along with a vulgarity.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders scored a duo of wins in Western caucus contests on Saturday, giving a powerful psychological boost to his supporters but doing little to move him closer to securing the Democratic nomination.
While results in Washington and Alaska barely dented Hillary Clinton’s significant delegate lead, Sanders’ wins underscored her persistent vulnerabilities within her own party, particularly with young voters and liberal activists who have been inspired by her rival’s unapologetically liberal message. The two Democrats were also competing in Hawaii.
In an interview, Sanders cast his performance as part of a Western comeback, saying he expects to close the delegate gap with Clinton as the contest moves to the more liberal northeastern states, including her home state of New York. He also said his campaign is increasing its outreach to superdelegates, the party insiders who can pick either candidate, and are overwhelmingly with Clinton. “The Deep South is a very conservative part of the country,” he said. “Now that we’re heading into a progressive part of the country, we expect to do much better.” — AFP
Online Reporter