The mayor of a small town in southern Mexico married a female crocodile in a traditional wedding designed to bring wealth to his people, to the cheers and dancing of onlookers with the video of Victor Hugo Sosa Garcia viral on Instagram
Victor Hugo Sosa, the mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, an Indigenous Chontal hamlet on Mexico’s Tehuantepec isthmus, picked Alicia Adriana, a crocodile, as his wife in a nod to an old custom.
Who is Victor Hugo Sosa Garcia mayor of San Pedro Huamelula Mexico as he marries crocodile in viral Instagram video and Reddit
The reptile is a caiman, an alligator-like marsh animal endemic to Mexico and Central America. Local lore has it that Sosa pledged to be loyal to “the princess girl.” He accepts responsibility since they both care for one another and a marriage cannot exist without love. Sosa declared during the procedure, “I submit to marriage with the royal daughter.”
For 230 years ago, a male and female caiman have been married to mark the occasion when two Indigenous communities were united in marriage and achieved peace. According to tradition, conflicts were resolved when a Chontal monarch, represented in modern times by the mayor, wed a princess girl of the Huave Indigenous tribe, symbolised by the female alligator. The Huave dwell nearby the state’s coastline.
Para cumplir con una de las costumbres más arraigadas en el pueblo de San Pedro Huamelula #Oaxaca, el alcalde de la localidad, Víctor Hugo Sosa, aceptó casarse con una lagarta viva y la ceremonia fue este viernes.
📹Rusvel Rasgado pic.twitter.com/A8VnhIFt5q
— Quadratín Oaxaca (@Quadratinoaxaca) July 1, 2023
“We love each other,” Mexican mayor says, as he weds a reptile
Victor Hugo Sosa, the mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, a town in southern Mexico, has married a female crocodile in a traditional rite to bring good fortune to his people.
📸: AFP pic.twitter.com/hvRsCrovuu
— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) July 2, 2023
What’s the reason behind the marriage?
In order to “link with what is the emblem of Mother Earth, asking the all-powerful for rain, the germination of the seed, and all those things that are peace and harmony for the Chontal man,” as Jaime Zarate, chronicler of San Pedro Huamelula, puts it, the parties might “link with what is the symbol of Mother Earth” at the wedding.
All about the marriage ceremony
Before the wedding, the Crocodile is moved from house to house so that the locals can dance with her while holding her in their arms. The alligator is adorned with a ribbon and sequin headgear, a hand-embroidered tunic in a brilliant colour, and a green skirt. She is then presented to town hall for the blessed event while dressed as a white bride.
Local fisherman Joel Vasquez casts his net as he recites the community’s wishes for the union, which are for “good fishing, so that there is prosperity, equilibrium, and ways to live in peace.”
The mayor and his bride dance to traditional music after the ceremony. As the dance concludes, the king kisses the “princess girl” on the snout.