Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

From the historiographical trend of the Inter-American Cold War and within a transnational framework, this article analyzes the Israeli military-industrial complex as a strategic actor in counterinsurgency efforts in Guatemala during the genocide perpetrated in the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This support involved the transfer of resources, knowledge, and experience, including the sale of weapons and military technology, technical and technological training in intelligence, and advisory roles in social reorganization strategies through agro-military projects —such as the so-called «model villages»—, as well as the broader implementation of irregular warfare tactics. The text is organized into four sections, each examining the connection between the Israeli military complex and the Guatemalan genocide. The central hypothesis posits that the transnational network linking Israel and Guatemala operated through four main channels: Israel’s role as a proxy for the United States; the strategic use of its long-standing diplomatic relationship with Guatemala; the promotion of its emerging military industry, specialized in irregular warfare; and the opportunity to externalize its conflict with the Palestine Liberation Organization into Central America.

This study analyzes the recent dynamics of internal migration in Mexico using data from 10 % samples of the 2010 and 2020 Population and Housing Census, collected by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) and processed through IPUMS-International. The methodology includes the calculation of migration rates and mean difference tests to compare characteristics associated with migrants and non-migrants across various dimensions. The results show that Nuevo León and Querétaro stand out as destination areas due to their industrial development, while Quintana Roo attracts migrants because of its tourism-driven economy. In contrast, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guerrero remain regions of out-migration due to structural inequalities. Poverty, violence, and lack of services hinder population retention in these areas. Public policies should aim to promote balanced development by fostering employment opportunities in expelling regions and managing urban growth in receiving areas.

First ladies in Mexico —wives of municipal, state and federal rulers— have traditionally been perceived as playing a secondary, subordinate role, as a mere «decorative flower», as it might be said in a context of renewed misogyny. However, studies on first ladies in various regions have shown that they have been powerful women. We lack sufficient research at the subnational level, and precisely this analysis of the 1980s in Chiapas, Mexico —the first carried out on the subject in the state— helps to fill that gap. Using newspaper reports as the primary source, it examines the role of first ladies between 1980 and 1990, focusing on their functions and activities within the framework of government social assistance policies. By taking on these roles in the public sphere, they could break with stereotypes and dominant gender roles in the private sphere.

This article aims to discuss the need for interdisciplinary work to comprehensively support children in mobility situations. Based on research with 10 focus groups of migrant adults and a socio-educational intervention involving 25 children temporarily housed in a shelter in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, we argue that the child population has gained greater relevance in migratory dynamics. We highlight the need to listen to their perspectives on their transit and to recognize them as participants in a shigting and difficult-to-define reality. We conclude that: 1) children’s discourse allows us to question the subjective nature of a border that has historically ignored childhood as a subject of rights; and 2) an approach centered on subjectivity can configure —or reconfigure— objective realities.

Through in-depth interviews, the role of Indigenous women from the Altos de Chiapas region in decision-making and financial strategies to access private healthcare when their children become ill was explored. The results indicate that deficiencies in the public sector are pushing Indigenous families toward the private sector, where costs are high, forcing them to rely on informal credit —loans from relatives, friends or moneylenders— and, in some cases, on formal bank credit. Moreover, many women do not receive financial support from the their children’s fathers nor have access to credit, which delays seeking private medical care and puts the health of their sons and daughters at risk. To guarantee access to healthcare services, it is urgent to increase the public sector’s budget and regulate the private sector.

The Maya Train is an infrastructure project for southeastern Mexico aimed at boosting economic development. However, it is located in a region with significant structural inequalities, which could lead to adverse effects, such as gentrification due to real estate speculation. This paper examines this phenomenon, which is a type of development paradox. This study conducts an econometric analysis of the variation in the prices of real estate projects for middle-class and residential housing in the northern area of the state of Quintana Roo —Cancún and Riviera Maya— from 2018 to 2023. The results reveal that the location close to the Maya Train has a impact on land prices, which highlights the need for a comprehensive development program that protects the local population and ensures that development dos not lead to impoverishment.

This essay demonstrates the close relationship between ethnography, developed by anthropologists in their scientific work, and literature, particularly the novel. It argues that the experience of fieldwork, which involves various techniques, such as the creation of a field diary, implies a writing exercise that borders on narrative. The two anthropologists whose works are compared belong to two successive and distinct historical periods: evolutionism in the first half of the 20th century and functionalism in the period 1940-1970. The essay explores their roles in the historical development of anthropology in Mexico, as well as the impact of their literary works on conceptions of indigenous cultures, which influence the broader field of contemporary Mexican culture.

Based on a long trajectory of studies on political dynamics in Mexico City, Héctor Tejera and Emanuel Rodríguez, in their book Anthropology of Local Governments and Political Processes in Mexico City, offer readers a perspective on the political developments that have occurred over the last 20 years —a period during which new forms of representation and participation of citizens have been implemented in Mexico City— as well as on the electoral events and campaigning strategies of the ruling party. The authors’ contribution stands out for using a broad anthropological discussion framework on political culture, participation and representations of citizenship to think about the political-electoral phenomena and local administration in Mexico City.

This document presents a review of Etnobiología a la mexicana. Métodos, consejos y lineamientos selectos del campo, edited by Nemer Narchi Narchi and Felipe Ruan Soto, a book whose main objective is to present general frameworks for ethnobiological work both in the field and in office settings. The book, the result of the compilation of 13 chapters written by 28 authors who have practiced their profession in Mexico, addresses and explores a wide range of ethnobiological subdisciplines.

In this remarkable work of collaboration, Diane Rus shares the spiritual worldview of her friend and traditional healer, Maruch Méndez. Messenger birds are at the center of Méndez’s life and practice, connecting her with a Pan-Maya fascination with birds, both sacred and profane, that dates back many centuries. This unique portrait of a highly respected woman healer from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, sets a new standard for ethnographic practice and cross-cultural understanding.